See Me See You
by Diniseni
Summary: This is what happens when Ike and Soren are not best friends, Tibarn doesn't want to kill Naesala and Reyson and Sanaki attempt to pursue a relationship... Well, at least the halls won't always be so quiet with Janaff around... contains slash.
1. 1 Intro to the Scenario

Well... I said once that I couldn't write anything that had to do with high school, but... Huh. Oh well, here it is. Filled with persistent people, embarrassing people, the worse romance you will ever read, and my specialty, idiocy. Enjoy. Read along as Ike becomes the first to get close to Soren (duh), Reyson finds a girlfriend, Tibarn finds possible blackmail against Naesala and Micaiah tries multiple times to find 'the right guy'. The main pairings here will be IkexSoren, NaesalaxTibarn and SothexMicaiah.

I don't own Fire Emblem. Just these strange ideas of mine.

Read on!

* * *

Honestly, Soren thought as he gripped his pencil hard with annoyance, this school was said to be one of the most prestigious, that's why I came here. Why are all my classes, then, filled with complete dunderheads?

His mother had been the one to finally drag him out of one of Daein's… lesser schools and send him and –unfortunately- his younger, adoptive brother here, to Serenes Academy. "This school is practically _made _for minds like yours!" she said. Really.

"…But if you're supposed to multiply it, then…"

For some reason, had last week's events not happened, he would have slammed his books shut right now and left, never to return.

_How glad was he that the bell was finally ringing. It was only the end of his first week here and the place was already nearly insufferable. He argued that though some could, not everybody could at least approach his grade, but still… He heaved his heavy shoulder bag off the floor and made to leave the class. It wasn't until he reached his locker on the second floor that he realized that someone had been following him. _

"_Hey."_

_He looked up with his best 'what the _hell _do you want?' stares. "What?"_

_The male was taller than him by at least a head, but that didn't threaten Soren in the least. He had a muscular build, he had messy blue hair and his facial features were rough but his dark blue eyes were kind. Soren could smell sweat and… laundry detergent and something else that he couldn't place from his clothes. _

"_I haven't seen you around before, you're new, right?" His voice was deep; it seemed to echo in Soren's mind endlessly. "I'm Ike." He raised a large hand to the shorter male. _

Ike. _A suiting name for someone like him, Soren thought. "Soren," he said shortly, ignoring Ike's hand and sliding his math textbook into his locker. He pulled out his history book, and when he noticed that Ike hadn't gotten the message and left, he turned to face him again. "Is there something you need from me?"_

_Ike still held his hand out. "Isn't it rude to ignore someone?" _

_From that moment, Soren knew Ike was going to be persistent in this and reluctantly decided to shake his hand. "Is that all?"_

_Ike smiled. "I was just wondering if you needed anything."_

"_I've been here a week already, why are you asking me now?" Soren said coldly. "Are you just that slow and need the entire week to make a simple decision like the rest of these people?"_

_Soren's words seemed to slide off Ike and hit the floor like glass. "Nah, I just thought maybe you already had help, but I guess not."_

"_And what's that supposed to mean?"_

"_I was wondering if you wanted a ride home." Ike said, lifting a set of keys in his other hand, not answering Soren's question._

_Soren didn't even pause to consider the offer. "No thank you."_

"_Why not?" Ike asked._

"_I am perfectly content with walking, I don't live far. Besides, you don't even know me."_

"_Doesn't mean I can't get to know you." Ike persisted. _

"_No." Soren closed the locker and locked it before resolutely turning away and leaving Ike behind._

"_See you later, Soren!"_

Judging by Ike's attitude, Soren knew that Ike would return again. Hopefully, Ike would have decided that Soren didn't want to know him within the two days that they'd been away from school. Then again, the reason Soren hadn't left yet was because he wanted to see the athlete again. To shoot him down again, of course.

Finally, the clock struck three, and Soren quickly packed his books away and stood up. He ignored Ike from a couple rows away, weaving through the crowds of laguz and beorc and climbed the stairs to the second floor. At his locker again, Ike caught up with him and he started formulating come-backs and insults in order to ward him off.

"So," Ike began, "how was your day?"

"Fine. But are you truly so dumb as to need to have everything explained with utmost detail?" Soren replied coldly, referring to his multiple questions asked during the last hour as he brought out two more books to add to his heavy load.

"No, but are you truly so sad as to need to drive everyone who tries to talk to you into the mud?" Ike shot back, imitating him. "Not literally, of course," he added.

Soren could have gaped like a teenage girl would have, but he stayed in control. He knew what Ike was implying. "I am not weak." He said through gritted teeth.

"Clearly," Ike said, nodded to Soren's bag. "That's looks really heavy, you want a ride home?"

"No." Soren didn't spare Ike a glance as he shut his locker and stalked away.

"See you later, Soren!" Ike called after him again.

"So, I decided that maybe I'll come visit you on Saturday, we can start on that English assignment."

"…I thought you were planning to go out somewhere with Edward." Sothe watched Micaiah as she slowly back the car out of the school parking lot.

"Well…" she paused as she shifted from reverse and finally turned onto the street. "I decided not to, he's… not my type."

"We aren't going to spin out of control if you go the speed limit, Micaiah," Sothe commented, glancing back at the traffic his best friend was currently holding up. "So, what'd he do anyway?"

"Sorry, I keep forgetting I'm not carrying little kids with me." The silver-haired girl said, slowly speeding up. "Ah, nothing, actually, but I could tell he would be uncomfortable. He's always thinking about Laura."

"We could plan to set them up, that'd be interesting." Sothe suggested, letting a smile come up. "I have the perfect idea to get rid of that elephant."

"No," she giggled. "We're not doing that. I can almost see them now…"

Sothe looked out the window at the houses passing by, Micaiah's voice fading out. He wished that she could see the day he got out of the orphanage, instead of when he would trip down the stairs and possibly break a bone, or when someone was going to be an idiot and kick the soccer ball into his face. But that wasn't how it worked. She senses danger and thoughts, never the bright future. Speaking of thoughts, from the silence in the car, Sothe knew that Micaiah had seen what he'd been thinking.

"We're here," she said softly, pulling over in front of the orphanage where Sothe lived.

"You can't come in today?" Sothe asked as he unbuckled and grabbed his backpack from the back seat.

Micaiah shook her head. "Sorry, not today, Mrs. McKlee wants me to babysit, she's working late tonight." She smiled and waved when Sothe hopped out of the passenger seat. "See you tomorrow, Sothe!"

"Yep, thanks, you save me twenty minutes of walking." Sothe laughed as he walked away.

She watched him until he was inside, a habit she picked up from her babysitting job. The boy who'd become something like a brother to her since she started volunteering at the orphanage, not a little boy, she never had to walk him to the door…

She wondered how long… No, she didn't want to think about it.

A ring from her pocket stopped her from pressing the gas again. She dug her phone from her pocket and pressed it to her ear. "Hello?... Yes, Mrs. McKlee, I won't mind, I'll just bring my homework there then… I'm on my way."

Micaiah slid her phone back into her pocket. "Going in early again," she muttered as she drove away from Sothe's home-that-wasn't-home.

"Nestling? Oh, Nestling! Where did you go this time?"

Naesala buried his face in his hands as his uncles voiced resounded throughout the house. "Goddess…" he groaned. In front of him, Seeker snorted into his glass.

"He _still_ calls you 'Nestling'?" Seeker managed to say before he threw his head back, laughing.

"Shut up!" Naesala reached across the coffee table and gave the other raven a swift whack to the side of the head.

"Ah, there you are Nestling!" Nealuchi's entrance caused another wave of chuckles to go through Seeker's body. "I need you to do me a favor, next time you see Reyson-"

"Nealuchi!" Naesala cut him off, "Stop calling me that! You're embarrassing!" He nodded to Seeker to prove his point.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Naesala, I just forget. You aren't the little Nestling I used to care for, ah, I remember when you still had eggshell in your feathers…" The old crow smiled, his eyes seeming to glaze over as he re-lived past times. "Anyway, I need you to ask Reyson, the next time you see him, what that recipe was for that rhubarb pie was. It was delicious; I'd really like to have it."

"Rhubarb? Are you kidding me?" Naesala looked slightly disgusted. "That stuff is-"

"Delicious! I had it last month at my aunt's birthday!" Seeker exclaimed, grinning.

"See? Seeker agrees, smart man, make sure you get Reyson to write it down, I just don't have the time…" With that, Nealuchi left, leaving Naesala muttering about 'the only thing worse'. He looked down at the homework they had been doing, and decided that with Seeker now suffering from fits of laughter, it wasn't worth attempting.

"Well," Seeker apparently shared the same thought. "I think Mr. Demol will be satisfied with this. We got half of it, just tell 'em you didn't understand the rest. He always falls for it."

"Yeah," Naesala closed his book and shoved it in his backpack. "…What now?"

"We could get that eggshell out of your feathers, eh, 'Nestling'?"

"_Shut. Up._ It's bad enough he still says it, I don't need you on my back too!"


	2. 2 Meeting and Annoying

Here's the second chapter everyone! Here we have the meeting of Sanaki and Reyson and more of Ike's persistent pestering of Soren and some advice from Tibarn. Hope you enjoy it. Next chapter will involve more Micaiah and Sothe, maybe Ranulf will make his appearance, I'm not sure yet.

I own not FE... Sad...

Read on!

* * *

**2-Meeting and Annoying

* * *

**

It was just past noon when Sanaki admitted that she was lost, to no one. The hallway was empty, and Sephiran wasn't here to help here… Bah! She didn't need Sephiran to help her anymore! She wasn't a child anymore; she would find her own way! She just had to find her way back to the main office, and get a new map so she could find the cafeteria… Before she could turn around to re-trace her steps, a soft sound reached her ears. She stopped, listening to the melody flowing from somewhere down the hall… The tune was slow but happy, and Sanaki felt drawn to it, heading in its direction without thinking.

It was the music room, just a few doors away, where someone was playing a piano. She stood outside of the room for a moment, listening. She'd never heard anything like it; she had to know who it was! Who had such skill! Opening the door just slightly, hoping she didn't disturb the musician, and the teenager couldn't help but stare like a fool.

He was like a giant light bulb in the dim music room, all gold and white. Long blond hair hung in a braid between a pair of wings that weren't just white – they were _white _white, making his shirt look grey though it was the same color. Sanaki couldn't see his face, but she watched his long, pale fingers practically slide over the keys, barely touching them. He was a heron; _of course_ his music was beautiful. She was mesmerized, so much that she didn't notice that he'd stopped playing until he turned on the bench to face the door and she was staring right into brilliant green eyes.

"Are you going to keep standing there or come in?" He asked, and Sanaki snapped back into reality. She opened to door fully, but didn't step in.

"Ah – I apologize, I was just – lost, I was lost when I heard you playing…" Sanaki bowed her head, stopping herself before going down into a real bow. "You are a very skilled pianist, how'd you learn to play so well?"

The heron smiled lightly. "Practice," he said simply. "How are you lost? Doesn't the office give maps to new students?"

Sanaki blinked, how had he known…? His smile widened just and she remembered: herons can read thoughts. Right. "Oh, yes, they did give me one, but I left it behind somewhere in one of my earlier classes… "

"Mm, you're looking for the cafeteria, right?"

Sanaki pursed her lips. "That's really quite rude, just barging into other people's minds."

"Sorry, bad habit. People usually don't mind," he said, shrugging. "So, would you like help, or not?"

"I don't need help!" Sanaki said indignantly, crossing her arms. Then she realized that not only was she talking to a heron; it was a complete stranger who'd done nothing to her. "…But help would be nice."

The laguz didn't respond immediately, he seemed about to ask her something, but he didn't. He smirked as he stood up and stepped toward her, hand out. "Reyson."

"Sanaki, pleased to make your acquaintance."

Reyson held her hand as he led her out into the hall. "Okay, I'll show you to the office and then we'll go to the cafeteria; lunch isn't over for a while yet."

Sanaki quickly tugged her hand from his, her old demeanor taking over again. "There is no need to treat me like a child!"

"Alright, alright," Reyson held his hands up in mock surrender. "You're one of those 'poor little rich girls' trying to act normal, aren't you?" It wasn't really a question though. "Maybe you should try to stop turning away simple gestures of kindness."

She let him lead her through the halls and down to the first floor before she muttered a second apology. "I'm not used to this, that's all. Everyone at home always treated me like I was some kid they were babysitting, I don't like it."

"You should be careful, then, people will think you're snobby."

"I'm not snobby!"

"I said they'll _think _you're snobby." Sanaki felt slightly dumb as the heron led her into the main office and to the front desk. It seemed so easy, was she really so small that she couldn't find her way around school? "Hello, Mrs. Malone."

The clerk, an aging cat laguz, looked up from her computer and smiled. "Why, hello, Reyson! How are you today – who's your friend?"

"A new student, actually, who lost her way. Do you possibly have another map for her?" Reyson said with his hands clasped behind his back.

Mrs. Malone smiled warmly at Sanaki. "Ah, lost yours then, already?"

"I left it behind in one of my earlier classes," Sanaki replied. "I went back to look for it, but…"

"Uh-huh, I know. Teachers usually recycle paper they find on the floor and whatnot, but this building's practically a ghost town during lunch, everyone's in building B with the cafeteria and all… Now, I'm not sure if I have… you might have to go to the guidance office, Reyson, and ask Ms. Lanffe if she can print you one – oh! Here's it is!" The clerk spun back around in her chair and held the map to Sanaki. "Keep it close."

"Thank you," Sanaki returned her smile as Reyson led her out of the office.

"Don't lose that one," Reyson said, sliding his hands in his pockets. "The councilor doesn't like having to supply students with things multiple times. Anyway, I'll just show you to the cafeteria, in the second building-"

"I _know _it's in the second building, there's no need to repeat it." Sanaki pursed her lips again; she had the feeling that the heron had only said that to annoy her. His small smirk was the proof.

The rest of their small journey was quiet as they left through a rather inconspicuous door, through a courtyard with other students milling about and into what was dubbed 'building B'. Definitely not anything close to a ghost town, there were people everywhere, laguz and beorc students chatting next to their lockers, in circles on the floor, the sounds of laughter and lunch-eating all around them. The pair weaved through the throngs of students until they reached a large arrow sign pointing ahead – 'The Café', it said. By the art club, Reyson explained.

There was a line of people waiting to by their lunch, but Sanaki avoided it, she had her own lunch packed this morning. She followed Reyson past many tables, and she felt that if she took a seat at one of the empty ones, Reyson wouldn't have minded, or noticed at all. But she didn't, she wanted to keep following him. For the sake of the possibility of a friend – or just to see if it bugged anyone. When Reyson finally stopped, all five of the hawk laguz seated there looked up to great him, then their eyes locked onto her. With a mixture of bravery and anxiety, she met them.

"I thought you were practicing," one of the hawks said as Reyson sat next to him. He was easily the largest, with dark brown hair, tanned skin and a scar like a cross on the right side of his face, Sanaki couldn't help but wonder how he got such a mark and feel slightly intimidated at the same time.

"I was," Reyson replied, "But I was interrupted," he glanced back at her. "I decided to offer my assistance."

"…She's a beorc." Another hawk said, inspecting her. He had lighter brown hair in a bun on his head and a smaller scar on his jaw. Reyson merely shrugged. They all took one last look at her before they returned to their lunches.

"So, who took my lunch bag earlier?" Reyson looked around at the faces around him and chatter slowly returned to the table.

Sanaki now had two choices. She could thank Reyson for his help and find her own table, or…

If the heron – or anybody else – minded her taking the seat next to him and eating her lunch, they didn't show it.

* * *

Whenever Ike thought particularly hard on anything, he tended to get restless. He had the urge to move at the same speed at his thoughts. For that reason, he liked to run. And occasionally tackle things, like he was part of an epic brawl. Also for that reason, he was a very good football player. He let his thoughts – which were usually of no relation what so ever to the game – power his movements. Being tackled himself by Tibarn, however, was not usually part of the plan. This was the result of the rare occasion of determination being a distraction.

The elementary-sized boy was like one of those 'ice-queen' characters in the books Mist read. Soren's red eyes seemed to be constantly disapproving, and if someone approached him, he glared and said something that usually scared the person away for life. Usually, being the key word here. Soren had rejected his offer once and was clearly annoyed in the fact that he had and was going to keep doing so. People usually didn't mind Ike's company, the key word also being usually. But it was like an impulse: the need to make friends – or attempt to – with everyone. Soren seemed lonely, and Ike didn't think that anyone should feel lonely. Everybody should have a friend, right?

And besides, Ike knew for a fact Soren did not live just across the street from the school, so he was legible to get a ride home. Mist called that 'stalking'. He called it 'seeing him cross the street two blocks away'.

"Jeez, Ike, you don't normally let me get you so many times. What's up?" Tibarn asked as they walked off the field at the end of P.E. "Did you fail another science test?"

"No," Ike quickly shook away the thought of an angry father at the prospect of his near-failing science mark. "I'm thinking about Soren."

A smile spread across the hawk's face. "Ah-ha, deciding where to go on your first date already?"

"No, no, I'm just – he just seems like a lonely guy, and he's new and… well, I'm just trying to make friends, that's all." Ike explained. "He's really tough though; whatever I do I think he can make an insult out of. All I've done is ask him for a ride home. I'm thinking that if I keep that up, he'll eventually let me drive him by December, I think."

Tibarn snorted. "Well, he's in your math class, right?"

"Yeah, but I think he's going to transfer to a different class. He thinks the whole lot of us are idiots."

"Well, I only have one piece of advice for you," Tibarn slung an arm around the beorc's shoulders. "Talk to him. Just go up to him when the teacher's not looking, pretend you're asking for help from the 'genius', I don't know. People are usually intimidated by me or are friends with me; I've never really had to deal with this kind of thing before." He glanced in another direction for a second, but at who or what, Ike didn't catch.

"Well…" Ike remembered the first day he asked Soren if he wanted a ride home. "He said he didn't want to since we didn't know each other… and if I talked to him, we would! Yes! Why didn't I see this before?"

"And you just keep asking away. When he gets mad, maybe he'll give up. Sorry to say, my friend, that if he blows your head off, I can't be there to carry your carcass home to your father."

"Huh? You wouldn't take a few minutes of flight time to carry by dead body back home?"

Tibarn's voice was quieter as he leaned down closer to Ike's ear. "Nah, I've got a mission to complete."

If the reason the laguz was talking softer was the fact that a certain blue-haired raven walked by them at that moment as they entered to locker room, Ike never noticed.

* * *

"Hey."

Soren looked up at the sound of the familiar voice. Wasn't he supposed to have another thirty minutes to the end of the day before he had to deal with this? The teacher had told them to finish their work with the remaining half hour, and the moment the room started to fill with chatter – not at all related to their work – Ike had come and taken the empty desk next to him.

"…What?"

"So I was thinking about what you said the other day, and you're right. We're complete strangers to each other, why would you want to get in a car with a stranger, right? Basic 'stranger danger' stuff. We have this period together, so this is the best time _to _get to know each other, since I don't know where you eat lunch and you probably don't want to sit with my friends."

And with that, without even waiting for a reply from Soren, Ike launched into an entire tirade about himself.

"My name is Ike, I'm seventeen, and going on eighteen in a few months, and my dad's a cop, so I've never broken any laws, if you're wondering. I play football and sometimes basketball and I know how to use swords, even though they're practically history now. Speaking of history, that's my highest mark, besides P.E., I really like learning about the old battles people fought way back when, when they still used swords. Actually, there was this period of time where they had two wars in the span of three years and both times, there was the same hero and he's the guy that I was name after. Ike. Apparently dad knew I'd be some kind of all-befriending, war-settling type of guy. Haven't run into any wars yet, though. But I try to make friends with everyone, laguz or beorc, we're all the same to me. I'm bad at science and math, if you haven't noticed. Math isn't too bad, but I think if I fail another science test, I'll be failing the whole class. So don't trust me with chemicals. Or microscopes."

Not that Soren was going to trust him with anything, anyway…

"But I'm a good mechanic, if your car breaks down you can call me, I can fix it. When I graduate, that's one of my job choices. I might be a cop, or if nothing else, I might just end up in the army. Dad says I've got really good leadership skills. I could lead an army, don't you think? That Ike guy from way back when could, then the only thing stopping me is the lack of wars, not that I want a war. The only form of war I've had is with Tibarn – do you know him? Really big hawk laguz, about yay tall? No? Anyway, Tibarn and I sometimes have mock-fights on the field and that's about it. I'm really good at Risk though, too…"

Why Soren needed to know this, he didn't know, but he braved it anyway, hoping the other male would soon leave.

"…I have a younger sister too, her name's Mist, and she's coming here next year. She's still in the eighth grade, and I think she's taller than you – no offense. She eats all the vanilla ice cream before I can get any usually, so for revenge, I eat the blueberry waffles. I really like blueberry waffles…"

By the gods, he was just going to keep on ranting until the bell, wasn't he? Speaking of the bell… Soren flipped his book shut, Ike's voice like background music now and like before, he attempted to leave Ike in his dust.

And just like before, Ike came again at his locker.

"Hey,"

Soren sighed. "Do you take pleasure in annoying me to the point where every minute of silence seems to be filled with your inane ranting?"

"No," Ike smiled. "Nice to know you were listening, though. Now you know a lot about me. That's looks really heavy, you want a ride home?" He asked, lifting his car keys.

"_No._" Slam. Stalk. This better not become an everyday pattern.

"See you later, Soren!"


	3. 3 Sideviewing and Interviewing

Wheeee! It's Christmas break! That means I have more time to write! I doubt I'll be able to make this story advance to Christmas by the 25th, though. So the Christmas chapter will probably be late, oh well. I have said 'Christmas' too many times here, so just get on with it. Here, we see some of Naesala and Tibarn, Micaiah and Sothe and a bit of Lethe and Ranulf. Yays. Then again, ouch. I'm updating really fast. I thinks that's bad, sooner or later - most likely the former - I'm going to get writer's block and not update for ever and you'll all be like 'WTH?'

I don't own Fire Emblem.

Read on!

* * *

**3-Side Viewing and Interviewing**

* * *

"You know, Sanaki, you can still sit with us, if you want. I'll wait for you by the cafeteria." Micaiah said as she sat down at the table across from her younger sibling. It was just past seven-thirty in the morning when she'd returned from picking up Sothe, who was leaning against the counter in the small kitchen, drinking punch out of a juice box.

"No, I'm fine. I said that yesterday." Sanaki said and took another spoonful of cereal. The image of Reyson's small smirk came to her mind. He probably thought she was a weak little human… Hmph, she'd show him. "I can make my own way."

"She said she won't embarrass you, she'll just tell everyone your thoughts every once and a while." Sothe said. He took another gulp of juice. "Reyson's not bad, I don't think. Ike's friends with him."

Micaiah ignored this last comment. "If you say so," she didn't pursue it further as she smiled and leaned forward slightly, resting her chin on her hands. "I think I've done it."

"Done what?" Sothe looked up, his piercing eyes interested.

"I think I've finally found the right guy." With that, Sothe seemed to deflate; he turned toward the window over the sink, leaning on his elbows. He sucked the straw lazily then squeezed the empty box before tossing it into the trash can.

Sanaki, however, remained interested. This was like one of those conversations in the books she sometimes read. The girls would gossip about the boys they met and discuss what they'd do in later life when they were married! "Who?"

"He transferred here last week with his brother, so invited him to sit with us. He's originally from Daein, I think that he and Sothe could be good friends since they both know what it's like to be in an orphanage. His name's Pelleas and he's a really sweet guy." Her eyes glittered as she spoke. "I got him on Facebook already and I'm going to see if he wants to go out for coffee or something on Friday."

"I think you should go for it then, if he's really nice. What's he like?"

Sothe felt forgotten as the two sisters went on about Pelleas and his 'nice guy' personality. To him, the guy sounded like a complete pansy, but he never said it allowed, lest Micaiah… He glanced at his best friend's vague reflection in the window. What a hypocrite he was. He couldn't even pluck up the courage to ask _her _out for coffee. She got worried when he was like this, whenever she came to the subject of any other guy, she asked him what the problem was. But he was closed up to that, wouldn't let her read his thoughts. They were almost like siblings themselves; wouldn't it be like incest or something? What if she found out and…? What a pansy. Him and Pelleas.

He glanced up at the clock and sighed. Turning around again, he didn't care what topic they had wandered to when he raised his voice above theirs. "Hey, guys, shouldn't we be leaving now?" He pointed to the clock, it was eight o'clock exactly.

Sanaki got up and set her bowl in the sink as Micaiah looked back at the clock also. "Oh, you're right." Her eyes stayed on Sothe for a few seconds with an unreadable look before she smiled and beckoned for him to leave before she locked the door.

* * *

"Uh… What are you doing?"

"Interviewing you." Tibarn's reply was simple as he scribbled Naesala's name onto a piece of paper.

"…Why?" Naesala was confused. Not that he didn't like Tibarn – or any of the other people he met through Reyson – but the two had never felt the need to get closer than that. They talked sometimes on the phone when Reyson went party line, sometimes in a chat room online or at lunch when he visited Reyson at the table he sat at with the hawks. That's all they were, acquaintances through Reyson. Now though, the raven had the nagging suspicion that this hawk had been following him. At the moment, Tibarn was sitting in the desk in front of him, flipping through pages in his English binder.

"Because it's for the English assignment," he said, pausing to read over a page before continuing on.

"Yeah, I know that. We're supposed to interview someone over thirty." Naesala said, frowning slightly.

Tibarn finally reached his destined page and grinned. "Well, you're over thirty, right?"

"Well duh, but why me, and why now?"

"Because this is _English _class?" Tibarn replied with a question. "So why not? Now-"

"And we're supposed to be working on our _essays_." Naesala said, lifting up his own, partially finished rough copy. He looked at the teacher at the front of the room. The woman was paying the smallest amount of attention possible to the class around her as she graded papers. "And you didn't answer my first question. I think the point is to interview an actual adult."

The larger laguz merely shrugged. "I'm sure she won't mind. She said somebody over thirty, and all the adults I know would be boring to interview. So, question one… I already know how old you are, seventy-three, so we can skip that…What is your current occupation… high school… student."

Naesala sighed and stared at his essay. Blasted environment argument. Couldn't this be left to his life-studies class? "I have a job, you know. I'm just a sales assistant though; you can leave that out if you want." He said this as he slid down in his seat. No way could he concentrate on an essay when Tibarn was 'interviewing' him. He let his face relax into a bored expression as Tibarn wrote 'sales assistant' on his paper.

"And have you always wanted to be a… sales assistant?"

"No. I just need money for college." He watched a big fat 'NO' go onto the page. "I want to be lawyer or something. Like a mediator, something along those lines." He had no idea why he just said that.

"Well that was the next question, so…" The hawk wrote that down too. "Now, what are your goals in life?"

Naesala shrugged. "I dunno, go to college… get an actual job…" He brought his own pencil onto his paper, doodling in the margin. He let Tibarn ask question after question, and he answered them with the same tone: he could really care less – though he would like to know why the hawk had chosen _him _of all people. Why was he suddenly holding any interest in him? After a few minutes, the replies came almost automatically, without any real thought.

"After school? I go out to my-" Naesala's head shot up and he stopped himself short before he could finish. In front of him, Tibarn was grinning as he motioned for him to continue. His eyes narrowed. "What are you up to? That is definitely _not _part of the assignment!"

Tibarn shook his head and laughed, leaning back in his chair. "Ah, I almost got you!"

"Why the hell did you want to know what I do after school anyway?" Naesala glared at him.

"What's wrong with wanting to get to know someone?" Tibarn asked innocently. Naesala didn't buy it, he continued to glare at the hawk as his eyes wandered to the essay on his desk, and he raised one eyebrow. He grinned wider. "Tibarn is… what? What am I?"

Naesala blinked; confused as he looked down at his sheet and saw that amidst his doodling he had written the words 'Tibarn is' onto his page. Pursing his lips, he finished the sentence. 'Tibarn is… an idiot.'

Tibarn feigned hurt. "Ouch, why so mean? What have I done to earn such painful words?"

"Try stalking me?"

"I have not _stalked _you." Tibarn said defensively. "Just... watched from afar. So, what _do_ you do after school?"

"That's none of your business." Naesala crossed his arms indignantly.

"It must be really embarrassing if you don't even want to say it." Tibarn quipped.

Naesala glanced around the room to make sure no one was hearing them. "Be quiet!" He hissed.

Tibarn grinned, and so began a brilliant staring contest. Or not. The two laguz stared at each other, one smiling like a fool and the other just daring him to start pushing the envelope. Topaz against cobalt. Hawk against raven. Football player against sales assistant. This continued until there was only five minutes to the bell, when the teacher looked up and realized that half the class had migrated to one side of the room and she called for everybody to return to their seats. Tibarn stood up, still smiling as he started moving back to his own desk.

"I will figure you out!" He called. "Mark my words, I will!"

* * *

When Lethe's phone buzzed in her pocket, half the laguz in the class (including the teacher) looked in her direction. The teacher didn't even move a feather as he raised a brow. "Lethe?"

"I'm turning it off," the cat laguz reached into her pocket as the teacher began writing on the board again, but instead of turning it off, she opened the text that was just sent to her, reading it under her desk.

'_So it's decided then, Dad's going to bring me!'_

She lifted the phone up slightly to let Ranulf, who was looking over her shoulder, read the message before she turned it off.

"Lyre?" Ranulf whispered. Lethe nodded. He leaned back again, taking out another paper from his binder and writing something on it. He tapped Lethe's shoulder and her left hand dropped to her side as she copied what was on the board.

Unfolding the scrap, she quickly read Ranulf's writing before writing a reply. 'She's coming Christmas break.' She folded it up, glancing at the teacher before passing it back on the floor. When it came back she frowned and wrote 'how should I know? She wants to see mom, probably.'

Ranulf tapped his foot lightly as he read Lethe's reply. Lyre was her younger twin sister, but they fought longer than they got along. Sort of like their parents. He thought of how the whole family seemed to have split in half, Lethe moving to Serenes with their mother while Lyre remained in Gallia with their father. Lethe knew here she was, where she was going and what she had to do to get there, and she was willing to work for it. Lyre was the same way, she knew what she was going to do, and she was willing to work twice as hard as her twin to get it. What would come to happen when she came to visit? Last time Ranulf saw Lyre was when he accompanied Lethe to Gallia for a visit of her own, and half the time the two never even said a word to each other. That was almost two years ago. If Lethe hadn't blocked her younger sister, then relations had to be steady, right?

When class was over, Ranulf jumped out of his seat, hurrying the get out of the room before the halls filled with students heading to the second building for lunch. But Lethe stopped him just as he was in the hall.

"Ranulf! Where are you going so fast like you tail's on fire?"

"I gotta go meet Ike in a minute, to… discuss some things." He gave her a quick peck on the cheek before turning around again. "See you after school!" He called over his shoulder. He found Ike in the courtyard, whispering in a corner with a dark green-haired friend. He hopped over to them, setting an arm on either of their shoulders. "Boyd, Ike. So, what's the plan?"


	4. 4 Not so sealed deal

I purposely waited a bit to post this, so I don't end up charging into a hole that I probably won't get out for for a very long time. Anyway, some idiocy between Sanaki and the hawks, Ike's struck a deal with Soren, and Naesala's becoming paranoid. Enjoy.

I don't own FE...

Read on!

* * *

**4-Not-So-Sealed Deal**

* * *

When lunch started, Sanaki was not lost this time. In fact, there wasn't anybody at the table when she arrived. She waited for a few minutes, slowly eating her sandwich, watching the cafeteria in front of her fill – waving back at Micaiah who had Pelleas, a very nervous looking boy, and Sothe beside her.

"Oh, you're still here?" She paused as Janaff took his seat with Ulki across from Tibarn and Reyson. Lotz smiled shyly and Dekoda, like yesterday, just seemed to ignore everything around him as he turned up his music. She was about to say something rude to Janaff, but Reyson spoke first.

"Don't talk like that, Janaff, you barely know her," he said. His hair was down today and he pushed a few stray locks behind on ear as he turned to her. "Not lost today, then, I see."

She just smiled in response. Then she gaped as Janaff reminded himself that he had packed no lunch and proceeded to look across the cafeteria and start reading out the list of food they sold off the printed page near the door, like he had a pair of invisible binoculars stuck to his head. Janaff had the eyes of a… hawk, but she never imagined them to be so good that he wasn't even squinting, his eyes were wide open.

"How do you do… that?" She glanced behind her at the list, the small-printed words practically invisible to her. "Can you all see like that?" When she said this, Reyson chuckled softly, Tibarn outright laughed, Janaff grinned, Ulki and Lotz smiled and Dekoda smirked. Sanaki frowned and looked up at Reyson. "What's so funny?"

The heron shook his head. "I'm sorry, no, we can't all see like that, especially not me. Janaff here is extremely far-sighted; we've estimated that he can see nearly to the border of Serenes. Give or take a couple miles." With that, Janaff pumped his fists in the air with a cry of 'hell yeah, baby! It's burger time!' as he hopped away from the table. "And, while we're on the subject of excellent senses, I should tell you about Ulki's ears."

"Better watch out," Tibarn said, "no secret's safe with him around. You could be whispering on the horizon and he could still hear you like his iPod was turned up high." Ulki didn't say anything to this, he just smiled at he ate through his lunch.

"Ah, really?" This piqued Sanaki's interest. If Ulki could hear so well… She leaned over to Reyson, not knowing why she whispered since it would do nothing. "… Is he able to pick up electromagnetic waves, too?"

This was all too much for Tibarn, and Lotz practically scrambled onto Dekoda's lap when a spray of water came in his direction. The larger hawk wiped water from his chin as his booming laugh echoed all around, causing a great many other students to look in their direction, faces clearly saying 'what the hell just happened?'. Dekoda snorted and pushed Lotz away, and Ulki hadn't laughed, but his smile looked like a rather painful white line and his shoulders were shaking.

"No – aha – no, he can't, Ulki – haha – he's not a satellite dish!" Reyson managed to say this through a series of laughs and gasps. "Haa, no he can't pick up electromagnetic waves – if he could, it'd be a scientific and biological phenomenon, and _nothing _would be safe then!"

Sanaki's face flushed red as her top as Tibarn continued laughing, like this was the most hilarious thing in the world. Or just the most ridiculous. Or most likely both. As they always said, curiosity killed the cat, and there goes that cat… Janaff returned not long later, tray in hand and slightly out of breath.

"What did I miss and why is Tibarn laughing so hard?"

"I was just curious!" Sanaki said defensively, still red. She let herself smile as Ulki told the other laguz what he missed and he snorted into his hand. "Alright, alright, I asked a dumb question, are we done laughing now?"

Reyson was still smiling widely, but he nodded. "Now, Janaff, you have a story to tell?"

As Janaff, who minded not the fact that Reyson had just read his thoughts, launched into a story about some member of his family returning from somewhere down south, Sanaki began eating her lunch again. She was quiet for the most part, again, searching but not finding many chances to interject herself into a conversation between six bird laguz. "…And you know what she saw on her way back?... Big ass plane right behind…"

"And she was just going on and on – beorc have no place in the air! And blah-blah-I get it, mum! And then I was thinking, I kind of agree with her – the air is no place for anything without wings, it's our domain! They should just stay on the ground, I bet there'd be less bird casualties-"

"Oh, is there a reason you're still here, then?"

Janaff paused in his story, and everyone else turned to look at her. She just smiled. The hawk leaned on his elbow, eyes narrowed. "You know," he said, "You aren't half bad."

* * *

"Hey, Soren! Wait!"

Soren turned slowly when he heard Ike's voice. Goddess, lunch wasn't even finished yet, why now? And how had Ike managed to find out where he ate? But he didn't ask this as Ike approached him just outside of the astronomy room. "Is this your plan now? To pester me at every available chance? Your chances of making a friend in me are dwindling very steeply now, Ike," he said icily.

"So there is a chance?" Ike smiled, and Soren realized his mistake, but Ike didn't give him time to speak. "No, that's not what I wanted to ask you. Listen, midterms are next week, and I really, really can't let my science mark fall anymore. I need help, and you're probably the smartest person I know… or don't know."

Soren frowned, blinking a few times. He shifted the weight of his bad on his shoulder. "Let me get this straight. We've known each other for all of three days, and I've insulted you every time we've spoken – which should have either made us enemies or at the very least make you leave me alone – and you want me to tutor you?"

Ike nodded like it was completely in the norm for this to happen. "Yes. All of my friends wouldn't take it seriously enough, and if I asked someone older than them, it would somehow get to my father, and I really don't feel like facing him with this. So, will you help me or not? We could just study at lunch or something, since my science midterm is a week tomorrow."

He didn't reply immediately, only stood in front of Ike, thinking. The athlete was asking him a favor and if he played his cards right, he could say that he would help if he was left alone. Then again, that would be playing right into Ike's hand. If he spent a week's worth of lunches with Ike, there would be no telling what Ike would get up to other than studying. Soren didn't want to have to deal with him. In fact, he should have transferred out of his only class with the other the first chance he got.

'_You should really find a good friend, Soren, and don't lie to me! Don't you think I can tell when someone is lying?'_

Or, he could actually tell his mother that he found a friend. Ike seemed like somebody from a novel, never pushing the limit – but willing to, clearly – and always trying to help everyone he met. Soren had been lonely for years, and Ike was the first person who had ever tried to befriend him, he was the only person he could actually trust – what was he thinking? Yes, he's had no friends, but that doesn't mean he's been lonely! He'd always gotten by just fine without anybody else, why was he thinking about it now? He had gotten this far, he could still get by on his own.

"I'll be charging you," he said, once again realizing the mistake too late.

"So you'll help me?" Ike asked, looking hopeful.

"Only," Soren met his eyes, "if you promise to leave me alone afterward."

Ike contemplated this for a few seconds, and Soren thought that he might be having seconds thought, but he smiled still anyway. "Okay, deal."

* * *

Later that day, Soren was seriously considering breaking off that 'deal', right then and there as he stood at his locker.

"You know, I don't know how you can lift that without any trouble. Did you take extra courses at you last school?" Ike asked, leaning against the other lockers.

"No, I took higher level classes, and they required heavier books. I've grown used to it."

"Really? And you do all that work after school? Do you even have homework everyday? Or do you just use all your extra time to study?" Ike's questions were seemingly endless. "I don't see the point in that. You know it, remember it, why study it when it's not needed?

"Why study history when it's just that? Why keep old memories when what we do today will not change the past and what we do tomorrow will not change today?" Soren countered, meeting Ike's eyes as he closed his locker. Actually closed, not slammed.

"We study it to teach ourselves a lesson, so we never forget."

"Exactly. I study everyday so that I don't forget, so that I don't have to worry about failing grades and problems because of them. Discipline, Ike."

"You're right," Ike said, pushing himself off the lockers. "And you know what, I bet you'd have more time for that discipline if you didn't spend so much time walking everyday."

Soren's face remained neutral. "I am perfectly content with walking home every day. I gives me more exercise and fresh air, which gives me more oxygen, which goes to my head and let's me process things easier. Or maybe you don't know that. Maybe a lack of oxygen in you thick skull is what's impeding your ability to understand that _I don't want a ride home. Good bye_."

"See you later, Soren!"

* * *

Naesala wasn't a generally shady person, normally, but now that he knew that Tibarn was 'watching him from afar', one would think he was the one doing the stalking. Or at least carrying some kind of illegal item, the way he kept looking over his shoulder. The problem was that, for a person of his size, Tibarn was doing a hell of a job keeping himself hidden. Eventually, instead of using the crosswalk, he ended up taking to the air along with an assorted group of hawk and raven laguz. But alas, he could not see any sign of Tibarn anywhere on the ground. So, convinced that he was out of sight – but not home free – the raven hurried along through the breezes.

He split away from the group when he reached his own home, quickly stepping through the front door into the small foyer, kicking his shoes off. With a glance out the window, he sighed and shook his head, mumbling about paranoia.

"Is that you, Nestling?" Nealuchi called from the kitchen and there was the sound of clattering silverware and a small curse. "Darned gadgets…"

"What are you doing… And what happened to the mixer?" Naesala frowned as he leaned on the kitchen doorframe, watching his uncle fiddle with the electric mixer. The rest of the counter was in general disarray, but somehow still moderately clean and organized at the same time. One of Nealuchi's strange abilities, he supposed.

"Well, as you might not remember, there's a dinner party tonight at work, and I volunteered to bake and…" He set the mixer on the counter next to a bowl of partially mixed cake mix to run one hand over his balding head. "You know, back when I was your age, we didn't have all of these fancy gadgets," he said with a small sigh.

Naesala heard this before, a million times. "Yeah, I know. You had to do it all by hand." And before his uncle could add onto it, he continued. "And you had to fly miles to school, over the mountains, both ways, in eighty-mile wind speeds… I know, you said this, what, a thousand times?"

The elder raven gave him a look over his shoulder, but didn't comment on his tone. "Seven, remember, and I expect you to be there!"

"I know, I won't forget." Naesala gave a last look at the mixer, missing one of its whisks, before he continued on downstairs to the basement, part of which was dubbed his bedroom. He shuffled around, purposely rubbing his feet against the carpet just to touch the metal knob of his door and feel the static. After that silliness was done, he dumped his schoolbag on the end of his bed and took from a hook just inside his closet a small duffel bag. He opened it, taking a short look inside, deciding that everything was in ord-his shoes, where were his shoes? He searched through the bad, but there was no sign that the pair of shoes in question had even been there for at least… since Monday… Let's see, what did he do on Monday? He came home, did some homework with Seeker – _Seeker. _

He rushed back upstairs, past the kitchen where Nealuchi had given up on electric mixing and grabbed a wooden spoon, to the living room. Not under the coffee table, where they'd been working, not anywhere around the television… Damn, what if Seeker had actually taken them? Great, he didn't need this. What a great thing to come to school to that would be…

"Nealuchi!"

Nealuchi didn't respond right away, and when he didn't it was with a question. "Don't you have to go soon, Nestling?"

"Ah, never mind!" He reached under the sofa, in front of where Seeker had been sitting on the floor and sure enough, his missing shoes came back with his hand. Dust bunny and all, Naesala flicked that away and stood up. Not that he was especially relieved, it was apparent that Seeker knew… but he hadn't said anything about so…

Not long later, he was leaving again. He called goodbye to Nealuchi and he was off. He had forgotten all about the possibility of Tibarn still tailing him – or even that Tibarn had been – as he walked down the street, and he didn't remember again until said hawk was right in front of him as he turned a corner.

"Holy-what the hell?" Naesala jumped back, glaring up at Tibarn, who grinned. "What are you doing here?"

"What? A guy can't take a walk around town?" Tibarn sighed. "You shouldn't say such things, people might think you're… up to something."

"Yeah, like I'm going to fall for that." Naesala scoffed. "You just happen to be taking a walk, right around the corner from my house."

"You know, I only live a couple streets away,"

"Uh huh, so why do you still have you bag with you?" Naesala asked, raising brow and poking the strap around Tibarn's shoulder.

Tibarn looked down at it like he didn't even know it was there. "Huh. Cold have sworn I left that at home… Okay, you got me. Guess it's back to the drawing board for me."

"…Why are you suddenly so interested now, huh? I thought you said you preferred not to mess around with ravens?"

"I'll answer that as soon as you answer me." He was about to say something else, but a loud rock tune started playing from his pocket. He reached for his phone and proceeded to stare Naesala down as he talked. "…No, I'm just walking around…. Yeah, if you want…." He shook his head and waved his hand to no one. "No, no, that's not- fine, jeez, I'm come…" He hung up, and smiled. "You're lucky my friends are so demanding and I'm so willing to help. 'Cept for Reyson, you know, he does everything himself." He stepped around Naesala, waving as he took off. "See ya later, then."

Naesala watched the hawk fly away before he went slowly on his way again. "Ah, Goddess, that was close..."


	5. 5 Lots of Deep Thoughts for Lunch

I don't know why, but I just can't write Sothe. He and Micaiah might end up as a more minor pairing because of this, sorry. I think that if that happens, Lethe and Ranulf might get a bigger part in this. That's just a prediction. So, enjoy this chapter that took so long because Sothe's part was being a nasty... something. Soren does some thinking about things that he does _not _do, and Tibarn has some strange thoughts.

I don't own Fire Emblem.

Read on!

* * *

**5-Screw Food, We're Having Lots of Deep Thoughts for Lunch

* * *

**

The next day at lunch, Ike met Soren in the astronomy room. Being in building A, the room was empty except for the two of them, like most other rooms in the building were. He came with his science binder in all of its messy glory. The first thing that Soren did was take it the moment he entered the room, a distasteful frown on his face as he looked through the unorganized, half-finished notes, most of which weren't even attached to the rings and could fall out and be lost forever should the binder be dropped. This silence went on for more than five minutes, as Ike, for some strange reason, couldn't get words out of his mouth. He just sat there and watched as Soren pulled papers he didn't even know he had from the binder, organizing them into an ever growing pile on the desk. Then, once the binder was empty and all the crumpled papers had been organized, Soren pulled out his own science binder.

"What we need to do first is fill out all of the unfinished papers. I don't know how you've survived this long and I don't think you'll go much longer. You can't study what you don't know," he said, clicking his tongue as he matched up his own notes to Ike's. "Now I want you to copy down from my notes what you think should finish yours."

"You aren't going to help me?" Ike asked, raising his pencil and picking up a pair of papers. Soren shook his head and crossed his arms.

"You need to be able to tell what is and isn't needed." With that, Soren leaned back in his chair and watched Ike work. The amount of times Ike looked up at him during the next ten minutes would usually have annoyed Soren to no end, but for some reason, it didn't. He didn't mind meeting his blue eyes every fifty seconds or so, and he found himself wishing that Ike would actually look up for more than half a second so that he could get a better look at them. Soren countered his own thoughts with the fact that he'd had lots of time to look at them closely when he was repeating the word 'no' to the athlete every day. Instead he busied himself with watching the muscles in Ike's hand move as he wrote. And in a moment of what could only be described as 'fantasizing', which Soren did _not _do, he stared at the athlete's biceps for an unknown amount of time, wondering just how strong he was and what he did when working out…..

"You in there, Soren? Hello?"

Ike's voice broke him out of his 'fantasy', causing him to blush lightly, which he also did _not _do, and hope that Ike didn't notice it.

"Have you finished?" Soren took his notes back and replaced them in his binder before taking Ike's. If he frowned again, he neither noticed nor cared. Most things were in good order (at least the guy knew how to take notes properly), he crossed a few things out here and there before setting his pen down. "Alright, what unit are you in? Physics, am I right?"

Ike nodded, thinking that maybe he just shouldn't open his mouth, since Soren seemed to know all the answers. Duh…

"Then your midterm's probably only going to include the first week or so. It isn't that serious, so if there's anything further on it, you can't possibly have forgotten it already. But if everything goes well, we could get past that point and there'll be nothing to worry about. Or, if you're more bone-headed than I thought, you could just wing it." Soren passed the papers back and leaned back again. "Now, show me how you study."

With that, Ike proceeded to ever so slowly read through his notes. That's it. Soren watched his eyes move down each page once, twice, in some cases, thrice. That's it? You can't study _science_ of all subjects by just _reading through _it. It's a wonder he made it to grade twelve… Over the night he would have to make up some sort of review quiz for him. Maybe he should charge extra for it. This went on for another long, silent period of time, until Soren could no longer sit there and watch.

"If this is how you always study, then I'm not surprised. I'm amazed you've even made it this far," he said, and Ike looked up and grinned.

"Well, my mark's always been low, but I usually get one of my friends to help me through the harder stuff… Mainly physics…"

"How so?"

"…It's a secret," Ike said slyly. Soren bet his wallet that his help was by way of cheating. Ike must have read his mind, or just his skeptical look, because a few seconds later he added: "No, they don't help me cheat. Ranulf offered to get the test answers once, but I said no. Cheating doesn't help anyone any, right?"

"No, it doesn't. Listen, tomorrow I suppose I'll have to prepare some sort of review you can do. You can't just read over your entire science book and think that it's all going to stick. If you have trouble with this then you can just kiss your exam mark goodbye." As soon as he finished speaking, the bell rang. He stared at the clock, wondering where all the time had gone. He could have sworn he still had…. Well, why did that matter? At least he had another hour now before he had to see Ike again. He pursed his lips as said male stuffed all the notes into the binder (he'd have to sort those out again tomorrow, dang it!) and throw his bog over his shoulder.

"Thanks, Soren! I owe you for this! Bye!" And he rushed out the door. Soren didn't have time to reply so he just packed his things at a more leisurely pace before setting out. That hour was gone, thank the Goddess… So why was the next one fated to go so slow…?

* * *

That day at lunch, Tibarn started to formulate an answer. Eventually, he knew Naesala would break and finally tell him what the heck he did on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and when he did he would force Tibarn to answer the question as to why he was suddenly so interested in him. Come to think of it, why was he suddenly so interested in Naesala? He never would have thought about it when they first met, at Reyson's birthday party some-odd-something years ago. Let's see… when they met, Naesala would probably not have been out of place next to a stick bug. He was short, thin like a rail, but had a very suspicious personality (except around the herons), and should anyone insult him, he would try to look threatening and insult them back. Try was the key word there. Back then, Naesala could only have been described as 'cute', even by Tibarn. Too bad Naesala took that as an insult, he didn't like being called cute… But nobody did mean for it, and it only got worse when he tried to threaten someone. If there were women in the area, they'd go on about how 'adorable' he was when he got mad. This still made Tibarn snicker when he thought about it. He paused in his thoughts to snicker, and Janaff glanced up and Reyson just shook his head lightly and continued to talk to Sanaki.

This continued on right up into high school, near to the end of the tenth grade, specifically. The only difference was that not only did Naesala have to 'defend' himself against people calling him short and cute, he had to repeat the lame saying that everyone was different and he'd hit his growth spurt at some point soon. Once, Tibarn caught him groaning into his locker 'Goddess please just let me grow already'. He remembered that because that day, they were paired up for an in-class project and Tibarn had called him short. Naesala had glared at him and told him that he was going to punch him in the face. Tibarn flat out didn't believe him, and he still didn't when they left school that day. Then two days later on Monday morning, Tibarn thought that somehow, the Goddess that he didn't even believe in had granted Naesala's wish. And he got punched in the face… not literally, but metaphorically.

Naesala grew. Grew so that he was taller than a great many people in the grade, and when he stood in front of the hawk, he was almost eye to eye with him (and smirking). Tibarn wondered how long he sat at home with the pain of growing bones, and then how much money he had to spend on a new wardrobe. And now, Tibarn thought that this even was when everything started. When Naesala walked in the school that day, Tibarn found that his eyes were practically glued to the raven. He could no longer be described as cute. He could only be described as sexy, even if Tibarn didn't want to admit that. Mothers weren't attracted to him, giddy school girls were. This (and this is why he figured that this is when it started) made Tibarn slightly disappointed, because the raven actually stopped to talk to them. Of course, this was before he figured out that Naesala was about a straight as a paper clip when he saw him kissing one of his raven friends.

Okay… That's part of it I guess, he thought. What was the rest of it? Ah yes, he asked Reyson once how he had even met Naesala a couple weeks ago, on a day when said raven had done nothing but annoy him and make him want to punch something. Reyson told him that they'd met through Leanne, and when he asked how Leanne met him, Reyson had hesitated before shrugging. 'I don't know' my ass, Tibarn thought, probably embarrassing if _Reyson _of all people won't let it out.

Well, Leanne might have been able to tell him. He just had to ask how they met, it was so easy… But it wasn't. She just told him that they'd simply 'run into each other'. Uh huh. That's what women say when they meet their future husbands in Starbucks. And then the heron girl had left before he could say anything else, since she had ballet practice every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

On Mondays… Wednesdays… and Fridays….

Oh, Goddess, it couldn't be.

Seriously, it couldn't.

Really.

Tibarn stopped, sandwich frozen in front of his face and mouth wide open to bite it. Janaff was waving a hand in front of his face, but he seemed to be looking straight through the other hawk. In his mind, he saw Naesala and Leanne, both in frilly tutus, twirling right into each other. He shivered, trying to eliminate the image.

"Sorry, what?" he took a bite of his sandwich as Janaff rolled his eyes.

"Jeez, what's up with you, man? You're head's been in the clouds this entire time, did you not just hear _anything _of this conversation?" He asked, jabbing a thumb toward Sanaki and Reyson.

"Er – no, sorry, I was thinking about… school stuff." He turned and met Reyson's eyes. Clearly, the heron knew that 'stuff' had no relation to school whatsoever. "What were you saying?"

As Reyson proceeded to fill him in with what little time they had left, Tibarn thought that he would have to find Naesala later and have a few words with him.

* * *

He hated today. He really did. Not only had he been able to sleep for the past two days, Tormod had been ranting on about some stupid firework plan or something. Usually he wouldn't have minded. In fact, he'd have jumped on the boat at minute one, but now, it was really starting to grate on his nerves and all he wanted was some _sleep._ Sothe sat at the lunch table, eyes closed, head under his arms and quietly cursing his best friend. Not that he was going to say anything aloud; he didn't even think that Tormod knew if he was awake or sleeping. Either way, somebody else at this table had to be listening.

"Sothe, are you still awake?" Micaiah's voice wasn't even echoing in his head like it would be if he was anywhere near sleeping. "I've got coffee."

He lifted his heavy head and took the steaming cup from her. She watched with worried eyes as he drank it with complete disregard for the fact that it could be burning his mouth. "Maybe you shouldn't have come to school today, Sothe."

"And do what? Stare at the cracking ceiling which I can't even call mine?" He said this with a sarcastic tone, a nasty edged voice, and he regretted it when he did it. But right now, he was too annoyed to do more than think the word 'sorry'.

"What's wrong?" Pelleas asked from Micaiah's other side. Sothe wanted to kick him under the table, but he didn't. One, had had no real reason to and he would probably end up kicking someone else in the process.

"Sothe has insomnia sometimes. It doesn't last long, but…"

"…Don't they have stuff for that?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm just going to walk right up to my patron. 'Hey, Ms. Gilter, I can't get to sleep tonight, how about you get me some of them sleeping pills or whatever the hell they give people for sleeplessness…' Yeah, she's really gonna believe me. She thinks I'm the devil reborn just because I wear shirts sometimes that don't come down to my knees! She'd probably think I'm doing drugs or something," Sothe said, glaring at the empty cup. He rubbed his eyes and set his head on the table again.

"Well… can't you just take a cold pill? They make you drowsy." Pelleas said, still not getting the message.

"She'd never give me one if I don't actually have a cold. And I'm not about to stand outside for the next few hours until I get sick," Sothe said, trying to wave a hand to the windy November weather outside, but only getting an elbow up. The caffeine wasn't working yet. "And don't ask me to try it at Micaiah's place either, we already tried that."

"He did eventually fall asleep on the couch, but I couldn't get him up again…" Micaiah sighed. "I tried to explain to his patron, but she's… not very nice."

"She just nasty!" Edward suddenly cut into the conversation. "I was just visiting him once, and she tried to stare me down whenever I was in the same room with her…" The next few seconds were spent watching the boy imitate Sothe's patron's face. Needless to say, he look like some sort of demonic chipmunk and Sothe brought himself to let out a quiet 'ha ha'.

"He's usually fine for the first night, but after the second… If he's nasty to you, don't take it personally. He's just grumpy," Micaiah said, patting Pelleas' shoulder.

"Yes, Sothe acts tough, but he needs at least eight hours of sleep every forty-eight hours to keep that up." Tormod joked. Sothe did not hesitate this time to kick the shorter boy next to him. Not only was that really a fact, but he laughed at it. What a wimp he was. Ike could probably go longer without breaking down…

Suddenly, Sothe felt a burst of energy at the thought of Ike. He was not a wimp! He had to be strong, or else he would never beat the Ike at arm wrestling! He _was _strong! He slammed his fist down on the table. "I've got it!" He jumped out of his seat, stole the rest of Tormod's granola bar and ran off.

"Uh…" Pelleas stared at the door, where a student was rubbing their arm from when Sothe bumped into them. "What was that about?"

Micaiah didn't seem so worried. "I'm not sure. Caffeine must have set in rather quickly. He had some kind of idea or something, I didn't really catch it."

"Um… okay… Does that always happen?"

Most everyone at the table nodded and there was a saying of 'or something along that line'.

Later that day, if anyone found Sothe in the gym, muttering incoherently as he did push-ups, they left him to it. If they found him snoring on the gym floor, they called Micaiah.


	6. 6 Liar Liars, Their pants aren't on Fire

I finally got my ass in gear and finished this off. Voila. So enjoy. Naesala speaks to Seeker a little, Ike's P.E. class finally gets to stay inside for class and Micaiah and Sanaki decide that the topic of anything Begnion-ish shall be avoided. Enjoy.

I don't own FE. If I did, Ike wouldn't be the main character, and he wouldn't act the way he always does...

Read on!

* * *

**6-Liar Liars, Their Pants aren't on Fire**

* * *

"Seeker."

"-and I looked at him, and I said-"

"…Seeker."

"-the face on this guy was just 'holy-"

"Seeker!"

"Jeez, where's the fire, man?" Seeker turned away from his girlfriend to where Naesala was standing behind him, holding his water bottle against his lips. "I'm in the middle of a good story!"

"Yeah, sorry to interrupt, but I gotta talk to you." Seeker wasn't getting it and Naesala pointed behind him. "Outside. So, yeah, I'm stealing your boy for a minute, El." El only shrugged and turned to Vika across the table as Naesala pulled Seeker into the noisy hall by the arm. He stopped in the hall and held Seeker's arm against the wall a moderate distance from a group of chattering beorc girls, one of which Seeker winked to. "Okay, I need to… clarify something with you, about Monday. And you know what; I'm not going to explain it because I think you know what I'm talking about."

Seeker grinned but showed no other sign that he knew anything. "Why don't you? That was Monday, a good four days ago, a lot's happened. Please, refresh my memory, what did I do?"

"Uh-uh, don't play games with me. You know what, or at least you think you do."

"Ha-ha!" Seeker adjusted his wings against the wall. "You know, I've never seen you wearing those shoes, are they part of a costume or something?"

"S-ort of," Naesala dug for the right answer. "It makes things easier; I don't wear them all the time."

"Ah, okay, so I was right. I don't understand why you're so protective over that, I mean, lots of men dance." Naesala made a face that said 'really?', and Seeker amended his comment. "Okay, not really in that _style_, but still, I don't find it that embarrassing."

"No, you find it just hilarious." Naesala said through his teeth. "You haven't said anything about that to anyone, have you?"

"What? No! No, I wouldn't do that!" The group of girls glanced up at Seeker's sudden laughter before shifting away a couple meters. Especially since I wasn't really sure, but still! I'm not _that _bad of a person, am I? Come on, it's not that bad, really. It's good exercise, and makes one very flexible – which many guys around here look for. Hey, don't shoot the messenger, it's true. Maybe it's the fact that it just screams 'I'm gay', makes you seem… un-manly, more elegant, more like… Hey, more like that Reyson guy. Kinda freaky, but I bet if you left your hair down and out on some make up, you could pass for-"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it." Naesala cut him off, waving his hand and shaking his head. "Didn't really need those images. I'm not elegant. Or delicate."

Seeker shrugged. "Again, what's so bad about it? I have a cousin that does ballet."

"Is your cousin male?"

"No."

"Exactly."

"So why didn't you want anybody to figure it out? It's not unheard of. Girls like guys like that… Sorry, that wasn't right; you wouldn't care about the girls."

"It's not that I have a huge problem with you knowing, so long as you don't tell anyone. But…"

Seeker caught onto these things rather quickly. He always did, and his face split into a wide grin. "Oh, you don't want _Tibarn _to find out, is that it? I don't see him as a gossiping type, why worry about him? Unless… isn't he with Reyson?"

"They broke up months ago." Naesala said defensively. "And besides, you're wrong if you think I have a crush on him. I just don't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing he's right… somewhat."

Seeker smirked. "Ah, of course. Typical stubbornness… stubbornly in denial… Pity, I'd go for him, if I went for men at all, that is."

Naesala punched him, finally letting go of his arm. "Shut up, there's nothing to deny. I think I'd know if I was attracted to him at all."

"Right, right, you keep telling yourself that." Seeker said as he walked around Naesala back to the cafeteria. "I've seen this type of thing many a time, Naesala! Don't think I don't know what's going on!"

And he did tell himself that again and again as he stared at Seeker's retreating back. He didn't have a crush on Tibarn, wasn't even attracted to him.

He wasn't…

"How's the plan going so far then, Ike?" Tibarn jogged alongside Ike as they ran laps around the gym, twice the usual amount of laps that they would have ran outside. The weather had been… relatively permitting, but now their P.E. teacher had finally decided that it wasn't fair to let the beorc in his class freeze outside while the laguz held no problem. The class basked in the fact that even though the gym was chilly at best, it was colder outside. Still warmer than usual for late autumn in Serenes, but still cold.

"He gave me a study sheet today. I have to answer all the questions before Monday so he can mark it and decide what area of science I'm most idiotic in. I feel like I just took a whole new class." Ike said, thinking about the sheet that Soren had indeed printed up – and charged extra for. "It's only midterms, but I think that it's always the end of the world for Soren if something's not done right."

"What's gonna happen when the serious exam comes up, I wonder." Tibarn said. "What do you need science for anyway? None of your job choices require it. Hell, why didn't you take tech instead?"

"Because science is compulsory-"

"Until the eleventh grade, then you can go bio, physics or tech, obviously you didn't get the memo. Reyson took bio; you could have taken tech with me." Ike deflated slightly as Tibarn laughed. No, he didn't get the memo. This is the last time he listened to Mist. Why didn't anyone tell him otherwise?

"Okay, I get it. I'm an idiot in everything but history and P.E. It's nice to know though that I have a secure scholarship ahead of me… I think. Yes. Science is completely irrelevant to being in the police force."

The rest of their laps were spent in silence. Tibarn thinking about Goddess knows what and Ike thinking of what to do when confronted with water and a possible chemical that looks just like water. Easy, he thought, feed them both to that darned stray cat that keeps coming around the backyard and see what happens… Mist would punch him for that, and Reyson would probably lecture him. Then he would feel guilty because that cat just seemed so sad… Best to go with the good, scientifically logical way, which was…. He'd have to check his textbook for that. Science later, basketball now…

Ike was on offense, that Daniel-or-something on his right, wearing his 'game face', and Naesala standing nonchalantly on his left. Boyd was behind him, whining about being defense with his 'friendly rival'. Tibarn stood on the opposite side of the court with Ranulf and some kid that Ike didn't know and didn't care about (and not because this kid always tried to prove he was better than everyone else. The ass hole), Mordecai was behind them, more concentrated on his conversation with the cat beside him. So in other words, they were evenly matched. Some not caring less, some distracted, and some ready to kick the ass they couldn't actually kick without getting themselves kicked to the sidelines. They waited as their teacher adjusted his whistle between his lips and smoothed his moustache. It was tense… not really.

Almost immediately after the teacher tossed the ball up, it was in Ranulf's possession. And then it began. The laguz weaved through the court and passed the ball to Sir Cocky, who quickly turned bitter when, as good as he truly was, he lost the ball to Naesala. And it just went on from there. Naesala, to Ike, to Naesala again, to Game-face-Daniel, stolen by Tibarn. From Tibarn to Ranulf and back, both of whom having trouble getting around Boyd and his friendly rival… Boyd falling over… What? A whistle blew as Boyd was pulled off the floor by Ike.

"Oh, holy – that was an accident, sorry," Boyd said, stumbling a bit. "That floor's very… hard…" he rubbed his head as he sat on the bench and his position was filled by another. "Yeah! Go, Ike! Knock 'em over!"

That didn't last very long, Ike thought as Boyd was soon back to his loud, yelling self. And the game was on again. Over time, players cycled on and off the benches, Sir Idiot was berated many a time by his team mates for being an idiot (and for getting angry in general. "It's P.E. for Yune's sake!" Tibarn laughed), Boyd yelled many a strange encouragement and Tibarn tried many a time to speak to Naesala. It was one of those matches where both teams were so good that many points were scored and near the end of the class, they were at one of those annoying, clichéd moments where they were tied, with ten seconds left. Somehow, in those ten seconds, somebody had to break the tie. No movie effects used. Right.

The gym was tense. They could hear the vents in the ceiling blowing air into the room. The ball was bouncing into Ike's side, Ranulf's shoes were squeaking. He dodged Ike's defense players. He was running to the net… It was all over. He was going to score. Sir Cocky was smirking on the bench. Boyd was whining again. Ike was already shaking hands with Tibarn and… Ranulf missed. The whistle blew. What an ending….

"Oh well, it was a close game." Tibarn tugged his shirt away, shaking it away from his wings and smirking as he pretended not to notice Naesala turning away to the corner at the moment.

"Yeah." Ike grinned. "Hey, Boyd, how's your head?"

"What's anybody worrying for? Boyd waved them off. "My heads like a boulder! Hitting a floor like that ain't gonna do nothin'!"

"That's a given…" Ike murmured jokingly.

"Yeah, it – what? Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

"Ouch, that's a heavy load; do have that all for homework?"

"No, I just like to… check over things. I like to be organized." Soren adjusted a binder in his bag to fit another. "It's not that heavy."

"Yeah, but you don't have to bring it _all _home, do you? You know something's here, so you don't have to worry about it if it's not homework."

"Someone could easily break into my locker." Soren said.

"…And steal what?" Ike asked, glancing into Soren's near empty locker. "Your dictionary of the ancient language? They used that for tomes, you know, way back-"

"I know, Ike," Soren said stiffly, heaving his bag onto his shoulder. "I have some tomes of my own at home. That's why I have the dictionary so I can read it."

"…Wouldn't you be casting a spell then?"

"Read them, not speak them. I don't doubt that I could cast a spell though, I've cast many Elwind spells when I was in Daein."

"Cool," Ike smiled, happy to find someone who actually knew what he was talking about. That wasn't often. Usually he was the one who had no clue, but when it came to history or anything related to it… "You know, it's getting really cold out, and that's really heavy, you sure you don't want a ride home?"

"You were out playing football earlier this week. What's the problem with my walking home?" Soren started to walk away, but now Ike seemed to take to following him out of the school.

"Yeah, because I think we were in a little heat wave or something. Usually we stay in the gym for P.E. in November, but Mr. McKenzy thought it wasn't cold enough. We stay in now," Ike shoved his hands in his pockets. "You sure?"

"_Yes._ I always am, and if I _ever_ want a ride home – which I won't – I'll sooner ask my mother to pick me up. And she hates driving." With that, Soren left Ike in his non-existent dust. "Make sure you finish those questions!"

"I will! See you later, Soren!"

Micaiah set her schoolbag on the sofa as she and Sanaki arrived in her apartment. Pelleas entered after them, waiting silently in front of the door. Sanaki pulled a book from her own bag and curled up on the sofa as Micaiah went to the kitchen.

"Sanaki," Micaiah called as she pulled a jug of orange juice from the fridge and two cups from the cupboard. "You haven't said anything about Sephiran yet, or Sigrun and Tanith. Are they all good?"

Sanaki tensed on the sofa, pursing her lips. "They're fine," she replied, closing her mind from Micaiah's abilities. She didn't want to think about them right now.

"Are you sure? I mean, you seem a little… I don't know, did you have an argument before you left?" Micaiah returned, handing her younger sibling a glass and sipping her own.

"No, we didn't. There's just nothing to say." Sanaki took a sip of juice. "Do you think Mandy should have gone with Derek?" She asked, musing about the characters of her book.

"I don't, but that's not the subject. Did anything happen?"

"No! Nothing happened!" Sanaki puffed her cheeks out in annoyance. "Do we always need to talk about Sephiran or something? Can't I just get away from Begnion for a while and visit my sister?"

Micaiah smiled apologetically. "Sorry, Sanaki, you're right. I'm just worried, you know?"

"Well, don't be. There's nothing to – there isn't anything." Sanaki glanced toward Pelleas, who was shuffling nervously at the door. "Aren't you guys going somewhere?"

"What? Oh! Right!" Micaiah giggled when she suddenly remembered that she was supposed to be going for coffee. She left her half finished cup of juice on the end table and grabbed her purse from the sofa. "Come one, Pelleas, I know I great place…"

Sanaki could only hear the clock ticking now in the apartment. She sighed softly and flipped the page of the book, erasing Sephiran and Sigrun and Tanith and everything else Begnion related from her mind. She wasn't any form of royalty now, she was just… a normal school girl.


	7. 7 Spread Your Wings as the Idiot Sings

This chapter… actually turned out to be kind of long… Well, maybe that's a good thing; you guys have been waiting a while, right? So what's included? Let's see, Sanaki is jumping head first into… something, and Janaff's being mean. The whole thing is just the beginning of something really stupid. I originally planned to have Greil appear in this chapter, but I had a hard time writing him in, so I switched to Soren. Now let's get on with this insane bouncing between pairings (it might look a little funny, I'm not sure because the format was all weird when I uploaded it)...

I don't own Fire Emblem... sad…

Read on!

* * *

**7-Spread Your Wings as the Idiot Sings**

* * *

It was a very long, boring, clock-ticking filled silence, it was. She must have stared at that phone for at least five minutes before she made a step towards a decision. Micaiah was gone again, doing some sort of homework with Sothe. She didn't know why her sister bothered, the boy was a grade bellow her and the only thing they really did together was sit next to each other at the lunch table, they didn't seem all that connected. But it was Micaiah. She worked a part time job and baby sat on the side to pay her rent, and she did her school work. Somehow she made time for herself, and somehow she managed to keep her tight-knit group together. It was like she was playing a game that no one else knew about, and she was the only one who knew the rules. Speaking of rules, Sanaki thought, there should be rules to this kind of thing.

She had a phone book in her lap, and she had one finger on a phone number and her phone in her hand. She was going to make a call. And Goddess, she hoped this worked, because she was already on the bottom rung of a ladder she wasn't sure if she was even on, and she didn't need that heron telling stories about her embarrassing call. She'd already screwed herself over trying to get his cell number…

_She needed a way, a way to get Micaiah to stop babying her. It was the first week, and she needed to find someone quickly who Micaiah would believe to be a good friend. Not that the silver haired girl didn't like Reyson or his hawk friends, she just didn't think that he'd stick very well. Sanaki didn't know why, she didn't say it, but Sanaki just got that feeling that Micaiah wanted more proof than a place to sit at lunch. She needed a way to give that to her, she needed to advance, get higher on the imaginary ladder… She needed to be talking to someone on the couch when Micaiah came through the door… She needed a phone number._

_"Reyson, before you go, can I ask you something?"_

_"Hm?" Reyson didn't look up as he carefully squished his lunch bag into his back pack and pass a heavy looking textbook to Tibarn. How somebody managed to do that carefully was beyond her. She could tell he was still trying not to intrude on her thoughts. Old habits die hard, I guess, she thought. _

_"You're not going to ask him to the prom already or something, are you?" Janaff asked. "Wait, I don't think you can do that, he has to ask _you _then. Guess you're out of luck."_

_"Oh, then I guess you'll have to give me all the details later… Oh wait, you probably won't want to, too embarrassing… I guess I'll just have to get pictures from your mother," Sanaki retorted. Not a very good one, mind you, but she had time to improve. At least it shut him up._

_"Not that you're a bad girl or anything, but I don't think you're my type." Reyson said simply with a smile. _

_"That's not what I was going to say!" Sanaki said indignantly. "I was just wondering – wait, do you have a cell phone?"_

_Reyson nodded and pulled said shiny phone from his pocket. _

_"Wow, you're really trying to get into this group or something, aren't you?" Janaff spoke up again. Sanaki turned to him and put her hands on her hips._

_"Do you have a problem with me?" She asked, "Because really, you can just tell me, come on, spit it out. What's wrong with me wanting to make a friend?"_

_Janaff didn't say anything, but Reyson smiled. "I think he's just wondering why you're not trying to make _beorc _friends."_

_"Maybe I already have beorc friends. Maybe now I want some laguz friends. You know," Sanaki waved her hands around, trying to get her point across. She didn't want to say 'to shake things up a bit', that sounded like the wrong thing to say in this situation. Her point didn't get across. "Am I not allowed to try and make friends?"_

_"Well, you just don't seem like the type of girl that would want to hang out with…" Janaff paused, looking for the end of his sentence. "People like us."_

_"…People like you?" Sanaki looked up at him sceptically, Janaff, Tibarn and Reyson were the only ones other than her left at the table now. "What's that supposed to mean?"_

_"What I mean is, one: we're more that three times your age," Janaff ticked off one finger, "we're two grades higher than you, we go out on weekends together while you look like you'd rather have a tea party instead of playing sports or trying to beat Tibarn at a chugging contest. And even if you did, it looks like your feet would hurt by lunch time-"_

_"Why does it always _look _like what I am or what I'd like to do?" Sanaki asked, not realizing that Tibarn and Reyson were slowly sidling away behind her. "You hang out with a heron; I bet I'm stronger than him!"_

_"Everyone's stronger than Reyson!" Janaff said, "But he'd still be able to keep up with us!"_

_"And how would you know that I can't keep up with you, huh? You don't seem to want me to get closer than the lunch table to you guys. What, are you scared that not every beorc fits in the frame your giving them?" Sanaki argued. This seemed to be the only thing she did with Janaff, debate or argue, not that it was a problem. Debates were a good way to get to know someone's views. "You've known me for less than a week!"_

_"Well then you'd better get your ass in gear if you want to prove that you can at least get out of the nest without help!" Janaff said, slinging his bag over his shoulder and starting to walk away. _

_"Yeah! Walk away! I'll show you!" For good measure, Sanaki shook her fist at him, even if she didn't really have her heart in it. She turned around, and frowned when she saw that Reyson and Tibarn weren't beside her anymore._

_"See you on Monday, Sanaki!" Reyson's voice called somewhere behind her, but he was already lost in the crowd, probably standing somewhere near Tibarn, who she could see chuckling. At what, she didn't know, but not her, she hoped. "The bell's ringing soon, better hurry!"_

_"I'll show them," Sanaki collected her own things and left the cafeteria. But it wasn't until she reached her next class that she realized that she'd forgotten to ask Reyson for his phone number. Great._

* * *

All she really did was get into and argument with Janaff, and now she had to do things the long way.

The phone's beeping seemed to echo in the room as she pressed them, and like so many other things that beeped, it annoyed her. She had to remember to mute the sound later…

One ring…

Two rings… Damn it, Reyson, pick up the phone!

Just as that thought passed through her head, somebody picked up the phone, and a light voice came through… In a language that Sanaki didn't recognize what so ever. "Um… Pardon?"

The person on the other line was surprised, and they laughed before apologizing in the normal tongue. "I mean – hello, Serenes residence!" Judging by the sound of their voice, it must have been Reyson's sister speaking, Leanne.

"Ah, hello, may I speak with Reyson?" Sanaki asked, pausing for a second before adding "It's Sanaki."

"Sanaki?" Leanne repeated her name and laughed again. "Oh, yes, I think my brother mentioned you!"

"Really?"

"Yeah… Oh, but he's not here right now." Leanne said.

"Oh, okay, sorry to bother you." Sanaki sighed softly, there goes that plan…

"You go to school with him, right? I can give you his cell number, if you want!" Leanne said, suddenly bubbly again, "Do you want it, or should I just tell him you called…?"

"No, just hold on and let me get something to write it down…" Sanaki looked around while Leanne hummed into the phone. She slid off the couch and quickly stepped into Micaiah's room and took a pen off her desk and a pad of sticky notes. "Okay, I'm, ready."

Ha ha, Janaff, just you wait. For some reason as she wrote the numbers down, she found this as some form of great victory and felt the need to laugh like a movie villain. One of those awesome 'mwa-ha-ha-ha-hahahaha-haaaa!' laughs. She should have stopped Sigrun from having her watch all of those fairytale movies, because that was just ridiculous.

"Thank you, Leanne." She smiled as the heron wished her a nice day and they both hung up.

* * *

Step one to the plan, of course was to stop by the corner store for snacks, because you couldn't go for a day doing nothing but 'getting ridiculously dirty' (as said by Reyson) without snacks. So then the plan would be to get 'ridiculously dirty' while drinking soda, eating chips (multiple flavours of), and candy. But someone was still trying to call Reyson. Tibarn looked slightly annoyed as the heron took his vibrating phone from his pocket. Janaff and Ulki just continued counting money in their hands while the cashier rung their snacks through.

Reyson glanced at the 'unknown number' for a second before pressing the talk button. "Hello?"

"_There _you are! I was wondering when you'd finally pick up!"

Reyson frowned. "Sanaki? What – how did you get this number?" Janaff almost dropped his bag of candy and soda with a squawk of 'what?' as he spoke.

"Leanne is really such a nice girl, you know?" Sanaki said triumphantly.

"I saw that one coming," Reyson said as he left the corner store. "And why did you call?"

"I called because you left without giving me time to finish my question! I think you owe me an apology." Sanaki replied.

"Alright then," Reyson stopped and folded his wings against the cold breeze. "I'm sorry for not wanting to be late for class and not wasting time on-"

"'Wasting' time? Is that what you do with me?"

"Sorry, let me rephrase that," Reyson felt a smile tug the corner of his mouth. "I apologize for not wanting to spend time that I could be using to get to my next class on time to give you my phone number, since you seemed to have a backup plan. Punctuality is very important if you want to be successful, didn't your teachers at you previous school teach you that?"

"Of course they did!" Sanaki snapped, suddenly sounding angry. "But that's not the point!"

"Oh, well then, please, explain the 'point' to me." Reyson said. He ignored Tibarn and Janaff next to him, urging him to move forward.

"The _point _is," Sanaki paused and Reyson could hear her moving through the phone. "That I have the feeling that it isn't that you don't want a beorc with you, because I've seen you talk with other beorc, but you don't want me around because I'm a 'little girl'. And don't try to tell me that that's not what you think, because Janaff blew your cover a long time ago."

"Yes, he does tend to do that," Reyson said, glancing at said hawk. "Sorry for that."

"You don't sound sorry. By the looks of it, you've been hoping that I would just go away if you kept up this attitude."

"I won't deny it, that was basically the plan… but you're really persistent, you know?" Reyson said. He knew that it wouldn't work; Tibarn owed him five dollars now.

"And for a heron, you're actually kind of mean."

"Look, there you go labelling me for what I am."

"You did it first."

"You're the one who followed me to the table in the first place! You could have just sat with your sister; you didn't have to do that."

"I wanted to…" Sanaki trailed off for a few seconds. "I never told you I had a sister."

"Really? I was sure you did," Reyson said quickly, going over the last few days with Sanaki at lunch. Crap, she's right; she didn't mention having a sister….

"How did you know that?" Sanaki seemed to come to a realization. "Hey! You said you wouldn't read my thoughts!"

"It's not my fault you don't guard yourself very well!" Janaff and Tibarn weren't bothering him anymore; they were huddled next to Ulki as he relayed their conversation quietly. He should just walk away now… "Besides, you drive home with her after school and you have the same eyes, what was I supposed to think?"

"Now you're watching me after school too? Jeez, stalk me much?"

"I have not been stalking anybody!" This was starting to sound familiar. Tibarn was laughing at him. "Do you know how many people in this city have naturally purple hair? It's kind of hard not to notice that walking across the school."

"So now you don't like my hair, is that part of it too?"

Reyson wanted to shake his fist at someone. He could hear Sanaki trying without success to hold in giggles. _Look what you've done_, he thought, _now you've fallen into her trap_. "This is ridiculous! Why do teenage girls always act like this?"

The line went quiet; Sanaki was holding her hand or something over it. What she was doing was a mystery. Probably cursing him, laughing insanely, or screaming, but when she came back, she was calm. "Well, I hear Tibarn laughing, so what are you doing?"

… That was unexpected. "Well, they were planning on just… going out and around town, I guess. I'm just following along because I don't feel like doing homework."

"…Really?" Sanaki sounded surprised.

"That's not all we do, you just happened to catch us on a weekend when I end up following them around on their idiotic escapades …. How did I even get here anyway?" Reyson mused.

"No, that's not what I mean. Like, I thought you were that 'all work, no play' kind of guy."

"That's because you're supposed to be doing your work at school, and I hold to that very well. If there was honour roll in kindergarten, I was on it. But I hang out with a group of hawks who aren't always… 'model citizens'," Hearing this, Janaff protested loudly and Tibarn punched him for causing a ruckus before they were scheduled to cause a ruckus. "How do you think I would end up?"

"I thought you'd be able to beat some sense into them… not literally."

"No, they're immune to it, I think." Reyson watched as Tibarn held Janaff in a headlock for a few seconds and let go. "But back to the point, is that all?"

Suddenly, Janaff started waving his hands in the air, shaking his head wildly. Tibarn and Ulki shrugged, they didn't know what he was trying to get across. Reyson frowned and Janaff continued waving his hands, trying to convey some sort of message.

"Hold on," the heron held his hand over his phone. "What?"

"Man," Janaff sighed, rolling his eyes. "She's really jumping into this, isn't she?"

"Yeah, shouldn't she be giving people time before trying to weasel into the circle?" Tibarn added. Ulki didn't say anything.

"I don't think she knows how to do that, Tibarn. I think she was privately tutored." Reyson said.

"Well don't hang up on her yet!" Janaff exclaimed.

"I wasn't just going to hang up on her, why?"

"Because I have a plan!" The hawk said, grinning as he gestured for everyone to gather around him to explain. For the next minute, people walked by, giving suspicious glances to the huddled group of whisperers.

When they came out of it, Tibarn laughed. "Are you serious?"

Janaff nodded. "We might as well go through with it, we just did the 'huddled whispering'-"

"This isn't a movie, Janaff." Ulki said.

"Stop mocking my dreams!"

Reyson sighed and took his hand off the phone. "Are you still there?"

"Yes," Sanaki replied quickly. "Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing." Reyson paused, and Janaff gave him an indescribable look. Well, it was describable, it was idiotic. "Do you know where Ryde's Park is?"

"What's that?"

"It's not long from the school, really. If you go back behind the school, there's a bunch of paths through the woods. Keep taking the path to the right and you'll get there eventually."

"…Through the woods?"

"You're not going to get attacked, it's against the law for violence to take place anywhere in Serenes. Anyway, that's where we're going. It's not that cold outside, just bring a coat… and maybe a hat." Reyson explained. "If you make it here, you'll shut Janaff up for a while, too. Or you could get a drive if you don't want to go alone, so-"

"My sister's out," Sanaki said quickly. "But I know my way to the school on foot, so I should be fine, right?"

"Perfectly. Oh, by the way, I have a question."

"What?"

"Did you have a private tutor before?"

Sanaki didn't answer immediately. "Well, that's not the point right now, is it?"

"Hm, no it isn't. I'll just take that as a yes, then. See you later, I hope?"

"Yes, _see you later._"

"And we are a-go." Janaff said as he turned on his heel. "Let's go!"

* * *

This was the problem with living in Serenes for only a week. Every town in the country was surrounded by forest, so one could easily get lost and accidentally end up somewhere in Crimea or something. That was exaggerating but it was still a possibility. Then again, Janaff would mock her for bringing that up. Just follow the path to the right, every time it forks, just go right... Surely the instructions were simple enough for Sanaki to follow through on without trouble. But as she marched on through the trees beyond the school, she contemplated giving up and just calling Micaiah to come find her. Reyson obviously gave her fake directions... just keep taking the right path. When she saw him next...

_"Is she in the woods now?"_

_"...I think so. I'm not sure right now."_

_"Well listen harder then!"_

_"Why don't you go get an aerial view if you're so impatient?"_

_"I'm always impatient according to you guys. Besides, she might see me if I went up." _

"No service? What do you mean there's no service!" Sanaki stared at her cell phone incredulously. Please try again later, it told her. No, she wasn't going to 'try again later'; she was going to try again _now_... But it wasn't letting her. Almost an hour had passed. An hour in these woods. And it took about fifteen minutes for her to realize that she had travelled in a circle twice. That was just peachy. Now she had to figure out how to get back...

She was so lost now. _Lost, lost, I'm lost, _she thought. Darn Reyson. Darn his hawk friends. She would say 'damn', but she was too good for that.

"Curse you Reyson! And curse you more, Janaff!" She called to no one. A bird chirped. "Hey Ulki, if you can hear me, pass that on to them!"

_"Oh yeah, she's here now."_

_"I think I heard something. What did she say?"  
"Curse you Reyson, curse you more, Janaff. She said to pass that on to you."_

_"Wait, did she actually swear, or did she just say 'curse'?"  
"Curse."_

_"Look, she's half way there already!"_

_"I can't believe you guys..."_

Her heart was pounding in her chest. She'd only been lost twice. The first time, Sephiran had been there to lead her back to where she should have been. The second time Reyson had been there to... lead her back to where she should have been. She paused and frowned at nothing. She should strangle the man that coined the phrase 'history repeats itself'. Well, she wouldn't let it have a third go around. That, and she wasn't about to walk in a circle for a third time. So, the next time she reached a fork in the path, she ignored the cool breeze and went left...

The path never forked again, and the violet haired girl was never seen or heard from again... except by Reyson, Tibarn, Janaff and Ulki five minutes later.

"Hey, she actually made it." Tibarn remarked. He seemed genuinely surprised as he took a sip of his pop.

"My hat's off to you," Janaff said, tipping his imaginary hat to her.

Sanaki could only stare. She was standing in a small clearing with the four laguz. Behind them were a small slide and a swing set. A small park. A tiny park, actually. And old and worn looking. Then something in her mind clicked. "Hold on," she said, "You gave me false directions _on purpose?"_

"Yes." Reyson replied flatly. "They weren't that bad, though."

Sanaki sputtered, feeling anger and embarrassment flaring up inside of her. "Why?"

Janaff approached her. "Because that my nestling friend," he said, clapping a hand on her shoulder, "Was your first test. Hallelujah, you passed."

"What are you talking about?" Sanaki asked as the hawk led her over to one of the many large trees nearby.

"It's time for you to look around at all the other birds in the air, stand up and stretch your wings, and fly!" Janaff said, gesturing to the sky above the tree. There weren't any birds in the sky. Then he shrugged. "Or dye trying."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Sanaki huffed. She looked up at the tree from her spot next to its trunk. It was a relatively large tree, with a great many branches that looked like many a child had climbed up it. Not only that but there were small knots and other smaller branches sticking out near the base. It was the perfect climbing tree. That was when something else in her mind clicked. "You want me to climb a tree?"

"Indeed." Janaff patted her shoulder and stepped back. "Or at least fall out of it and get a cool scar from it."

"That's stupid! What does climbing a tree have to do with anything?" Sanaki exclaimed. She looked back at Reyson.

"It's not that hard. Lots of beorc children younger than you have done it," the heron said and smiled. "What, are you saying you've never climbed a tree before?"

"No! It's absurd – nonsensical, _moronic, _not to mention it's _completely _un-lady like, and I could hurt myself!" Sanaki said defensively, crossing her arms.

Tibarn and Janaff gasped. Ulki just raised one brow. "Goddess, this is worse than I thought!"

"I don't know why you'd ask me to do that. But I'm not climbing a tree." Sanaki said firmly. She was raised with strict rules and a stricter schedule, and over the years she'd come to believe that trivial things such as these should not even be thought about.

"So," Tibarn said, one hand holding his elbow and the other over his chin, like he was thinking about something. "What you're saying is that you can't prove that you're not a little girl anymore, even though you _insist _that you aren't, and that you don't even want to take risks in your life?"

"Excuse me?" Sanaki said indignantly.

Reyson sighed. "I'm disappointed, but if we still have to hold your hand..." he trailed off as Sanaki shot him a fierce look and approached him.

"Hold my hat, if you will." She said stiffly as tossed her hat onto the heron's head without waiting for a reply before stalking over to the truck of the tree.

"Didn't really see you as the antagonizing type," Tibarn muttered to him. He shrugged.

Janaff grinned as Sanaki reached for one of the branches above her tentatively, setting her foot on a knot in the trunk and pulling herself off the ground. For the next few minutes it was almost silent except for the beorc's muttering and the sound of branches swaying as she climbed past them.

"This is ridiculous," she muttered as she paused on one of the higher branches, "How high?"

"That's not very high," Janaff said, looking up at her on the ground. "Let's see how far you can get!"

"Be careful," Reyson added.

They watched as Sanaki slowly ascended, knocking off a couple of the last leaves that were barely hanging on as she went. She paused again to catch her breath. "What's the point of this?" She called down. As she looked at the ground, her stomach seemed to twist. She was only, what, ten feet up? Not that bad, it's not like they won't catch you if you fall, she told herself.

"To prove you're worthy of rising to the status of fledgling!" Janaff replied. "Don't tell me you're scared?"

"No, I'm just catching my breath!" And she did just that for the next thirty seconds, looking up at the many branches still above her and the few below. Ashera, if Sephiran or Sigrun saw her right now... With that thought, Sanaki began pulling herself up higher. However, being one to have never climbed anything even tree-like, she didn't quite grasp what was and wasn't a good foothold. A few more feet up, and she let out a shriek when her foot slipped and her hands closed around a sturdier branch before she fell anymore than a few inches. But her heart was still pounding as she opened her eyes when she realized she wasn't actually falling. I'm going to fall, she thought, I'm going to fall out of this tree and crack my skull open and end up dead and it's going to be their fault...

"Are you alright up here?" Reyson asked. How he had gotten to the branch in front of her was beyond her. Wait, he was a bird, he probably flew.

"Uh – maybe?" Sanaki heard her voice trembling slightly. She struggled to pull herself up, praying that this branch was strong enough to hold her as she used the trunk and some support from Reyson to get to a sitting position on it. "They would have caught me, right?"

"I'm pretty sure, yeah."

"Ah, my arms hurt," Sanaki commented, stretching her arms out.

"Really?"

"Oh, shut up Janaff! I've never climbed up a tree before, and I've never really been the strongest person in the world!" Sanaki shot back.

"She's got a point," Ulki said.

"Meh, you're right. Okay, you can come down now!" Janaff said.

Sanaki looked at the ground and the branches around her. Suddenly her grip was very tight on the trunk of the tree. This is not the time to realize you're fear of heights, she thought. "Uh, how do I do that?"

"Just hold onto another branch and the one you're on and lower yourself down. Go backwards," Reyson explained. When Sanaki didn't move, he held out his hand. "Take my hand as support then try to go down, come on, it takes a lot less effort than going up."

Sanaki slowly took Reyson's hand, causing the heron to take a tight grip on the trunk of the tree to avoid being pulled out of the tree with her. All went well for about three seconds. Reyson, being as academically intelligent as he was, did not think that Sanaki (a girl who'd probably never climbed anything in her life) plus tree equalled slipping, falling, and injuries. Nobody really could tell what exactly happen except that Sanaki slipped again and pulled Reyson down with her as they tumbled through the branches, But a few seconds later, there they were, on the ground, Sanaki with a few scratched and Reyson with a few bruises, in a strange and probably embarrassing tangle of limbs. Thank Ashera and Yune for the thick bed of leaves on the ground, even if it didn't help all that much. Sanaki had landed on her stomach, with her arm still around Reyson's, who was on top of her – and surprisingly light. Her legs were tangled in his and one of his wings had somehow ended up between them. A couple feathers floated to the ground as they struggled to stand.

"Okay, ow, that hurt, get your hand out of my jacket!"

"Why don't you let go of it first? Ouch, wings, watch your elbow."

"Are you guys okay?" Tibarn, Janaff and Ulki surround them, helping them off the ground.

"Yeah, just dandy," Reyson stretched his wings and dusted himself off. "That's going to leave a mark."

"I'm fine," Sanaki said, as she tugged leaves and twigs from her hair. She touched her cheek where Reyson's wing had brushed against it. The feathers were so soft. She wanted to just walk up to Reyson and run her fingers over his wings... But she didn't. Instead, she picked up her hat and one of the feathers on the ground and put it in her hat before setting it on her head again. No one noticed.

"Well, that wasn't that bad," Tibarn said with a chuckle.

"Maybe she should get extra points for breaking the law," Ulki said.

"What?" Sanaki jumped, looking incredulous. "You mean climbing trees is against the law?"

"No, but harming the trees and plant life is," Reyson said, gesturing to the tree they'd just fallen out of. One of the branches had snapped and was hanging down at an odd angle, threatening to fall from the tree completely. "It's not too noticeable," he added reassuringly.

"Who made that up?" Sanaki asked.

"Reyson's ancestors, from centuries ago," Tibarn said in a creepy voice. "It's true, you know."

"Right," Sanaki rubbed her stomach. "You don't have anything else planned, do you?"

"Eh, we did, but we don't want to cause Reyson anymore bodily harm. He's fragile, you know?" Janaff said. "We'll do it later, then maybe, just maybe, you'll be worthy of the fledgling status. Chips?"

Sanaki sighed. Her arms hurt, her legs hurt and so did her stomach and later she would have to explain this to Micaiah later when the bruises showed. She would punch Janaff – because this was obviously his plan – but she was too good for that. So she took his bag of chips and didn't give it back until she and Reyson had left nothing but crumbs.

"I still say that was pointless," Sanaki said. "And stupid,"

"A lot of things are pointless," Reyson replied. "I think Janaff's trying to turn you into some kind of rebel or something. Maybe we're all just a bad influence on you."

"Apparently everything's a bad influence on someone like me."

* * *

Soren almost smiled. Almost. He casually flipped a page of his tome, eyes wandering over the old tattered pages. It was completely silent in his bedroom, but there was a dog outside that was barking endlessly, he contemplated actually saying some of these words aloud to see how high he could lift the dog. Or maybe he should just find his old fire tome and shut it up for good. Then again, the neighbour would be all in his mother's face about it, which would bring her to him. All he wanted now was silence.

Which he wasn't going to get.

He paused as he heard a crash from the kitchen downstairs and Pelleas mumbling. What a fool, he thought. He went back to his reading. He tried to, at least. There was another crash as his brother knock something –many some things- over before calling up the stairs.

"Um, Soren?" He sounded nervous. He always did.

Soren thought about not answering. Maybe he could just crawl out the window…

"Soren?"

"What?"

"Can you – um – help me?" Something else fell to the floor as he spoke.

"Figure it out yourself," he didn't bother to asked what Pelleas was even up to.

"Uh, I'm kind of stuck?"

Soren sighed and closed the book as he stood up from his desk. "Stuck how?" He asked this before he got the top of the staircase and saw Pelleas in the hall downstairs just outside the kitchen. He was standing in front of the small closet that their mother had decided to stare every piece of cleaning equipment they owned. He was holding a cloth in one hand, but the rest of his body was at an odd angle as he tried to keep everything in the closet from falling out on top of him. A broom and a few bottles had already fallen to the floor. "What are you doing?"

"Ah, I dropped my cup in the kitchen so I came out here to get a cloth, but I accidentally ended up pulling some other things out with it…" Pelleas explained. Soren just stood there for a few seconds more, watching his brother struggle to keep everything in place. "Um… help?"

Soren shook his head as he descended. Clumsy idiot, he thought. Pelleas muttered a thank-you as Soren took the abundance of towels from their shelf, allowing Pelleas the use of his other arm before taking out the Swifer and the broom. He left Pelleas with the rest of the problem in the hall and went to inspect the kitchen. It smelled like coffee, and there was a fresh cups worth of it all over the floor surrounding the pieces of the cup that had been dropped. He picked up each piece and threw them in the trash can before putting a wet cloth on the Swifer and handing it to Pelleas the moment he walked back. With that, he returned to his room. Or, again, he tried to.

Almedha had chosen that moment to walk in the front door and catch him before he even made it out of the kitchen. She carried shopping bags full of groceries in each hand. "Oh, Soren! Can you get the rest of the groceries from the car for me? And don't give me that old studying excuse; I know you can take this few minutes out of your busy schedule to help your mother." Damn, she pulled the 'respect thy mother' card.

"So," Their mother began as they put away the food, "Did you make any friends yet?" She wasn't asking either or her sons in particular, but Pelleas started rambling quietly immediately.

Soren thought for a few seconds. He'd talked with a few classmates. But they quickly found that he was not a talkative person. Except for Ike. Ike was the epitome of determination. Or just of annoying persistence. And now he supposed one could call them… study partners. Hmph, study partners don't necessarily have to be friends. So he didn't say anything.

"And I think Soren has a friend," he heard Pelleas say thoughtfully.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Soren said shortly, keeping his back turned to his brother.

"What about that guy you eat lunch with?"

"We study together, that's it. And he's promised to leave me alone afterward."

Almedha seemed to completely ignore this statement. "Oh, you've finally made a friend?" She said happily, and he moved quickly in case she decided to hug him. "I'm so glad! What's their name? Tell me about them!"

"That's not what I said!" Soren threw an indignant look toward Pelleas. "I'm merely tutoring him, and then we can both go back to our normal lifestyles!"

Pelleas accepted this well enough, but Almedha was not giving up. Her icy, anti-social son had finally made a 'friend' and she was not going to let this 'friend' get away. Not on her watch. "Soren, you should _embrace everyone _as your friend! You can't grow up with no one, or you'll end up old and bitter and alone, that is not the way to live!"

"Oh, and you know everything about the perfect way to live, don't you?" Soren muttered spitefully. His family had moved from place to place every few months for as long as he could remember. That was one of the reasons he never tried hard to make friends, he would always end up leaving them behind anyway.

"You boys should invite your friends over for dinner!" Almedha said suddenly. Pelleas smiled lightly, Soren could just tell he was already on the bandwagon. "I won't take no for an answer, Soren! I'm so excited! You're finally getting out of your shell!" Then she went on about what she would cook when they came over, and Soren just stared as she retreated to her room. "Don't forget, Soren! I'm expecting them, don't let me down!"

Sometimes, he really wondered about her. About everything, really.

"It can't really be that bad, you know." Pelleas said as he put the last soup can away. "I hear Ike's a really good guy."

Soren ignored him, because he really did wonder.


	8. 8 The Thief got Away and Stole My Sunday

I was happy when I posted my last chapter, cause I got a review and my hits spiked and all that jazz and I was ready to write some more and then… I couldn't. It was Sothe. But I had to write Sothe. I've dedicated myself to jumping back and forth between people and I even got a pattern going… but it was Sothe… So I had to read some Sothe stories to get me in the mood. I think he's just so boring because he won't get to be with Micaiah like I want him to be for a while. Greil is in this chapter, but for some reason I could figure out how to write that scene correctly and by the time I actually got something in the general vicinity of what I wanted, I still didn't like it. My excuse – this chapter is purely filler so that we can meet some mentioned characters. It doesn't have to be good, not everybody like fillers, right?

...Makes me wonder why I wrote it in the first place, then...

Read on!

* * *

**8-The Thief Got Away and Stole my Sunday**

* * *

Today was dull. There was no other way to describe it. You may try to derail the truth and cover it up with smiles and lies, but in the end, there it is. Sunday was dull. There was no homework to be done, no chores and no volunteer work that he wanted to do. In fact, the day was so dull that Sothe had just lain on his bed for an hour, and it took forty-five minutes of that hour for him to realize that there was a crack in his bedroom ceiling. Of course, he could just get up and start jumping on the bed, but he was afraid that the squeaky springs holding the mattress would break and he'd end up on the floor.

There wasn't anybody here to entertain him, either. Thomas, the boy whose bed stood against the opposite wall and who was pretty much his only friend in the orphanage, was gone today. Actually, he was gone a lot of days. The guy was a maniac for volunteer work and jumped at every chance to get out. Well then, there was only one thing to do. Micaiah scolded him a lot for stealing and the likes, but she wasn't here right now, was she? Nope. So with that, Sothe hopped off the bed and made his way to the door. It was quarter to twelve; Mrs. Gilter would be making lunch right about now… She always had cool things in her office, down three flights of stairs and the last door on the right, that's where he was headed.

The creaking of the stairs got quieter and quieter until it was gone as he descended, listening quietly for anyone who might foil his plan… The only person who would was Mrs. Gilter herself, since no one else really liked her here; all the others in the orphanage would probably help him. Not that he needed it, it wasn't hard to steal from the woman, you just had to tell her that some fool was causing some kind of trouble in a far away place in the building and you were home free.

Sothe flattened himself against the wall as he reached the ground floor, slowly leaning to the side to glance around the corner.

"And what might you be doing on this… _fine _day?"

Sothe jumped, whirling around to see Mrs. Gilter standing behind him, hands clasped in front of her and wearing some strange form of smile.

"Ah, Mrs. Gilter, hi, I was just…" Sothe quickly formulated an excuse for looking like a robber so close to lunch time. "You see, Thomas took some of my change and I would like it back, so I'm looking for him, but I don't know if he knows that I know that he-"

The caretaker cut him off with a sniff. "Yes, well, I'm sure that he hasn't gone far, but that can wait. Won't you come to the kitchen with me? I need some helpers to make lunch."

Hm, she doesn't seem to believe me, Sothe thought. He shrugged. Sure, I think he left for volunteer work anyway. I'll get him when he gets back."

"He left this morning," Mrs. Gilter informed him smugly.

Sothe feigned surprise. "What, really? He didn't tell me. Jeez, first he steals my money and now he doesn't even tell me where he's going with it or what he's doing or anything anymore. What a friend," he continued on like this as Mrs. Gilter led him down the hall by the shoulder with one small hand. "So, what are we having?"

"Soup," Was the stiff reply as they turned into the kitchen. There were a few pots on the stove and a blonde haired girl was fiddling with the can opener, trying to open a can of soup. She seemed to be having a hard time of it. Beside her was another girl, and their conversation was going something like this:

"No, you idiot, you have to spin it that way... And Andrew went and just totally blew me off..."

"Oh my God, are you serious? Argh, it's not working!"

"That's because you have to turn it the _other _way, you retard! And I was like 'okay, fine,' and left. I called him on the pay phone at the store, and I told him that we were so – watch it!"

"Okay, where's a knife, I'll just..."

Sothe didn't really want to hear the rest of it. He glanced to the dining room where a couple boys were setting the tables and a little girl with pig tails was jumping from chair to chair. "So what do I do?"

"Help the boys," Mrs. Gilter said as she went to attempt to help the pair opening cans. Sothe really didn't know what the point of sending him to help set the tables, by the time he had meandered into the dining room, they were already finished and they were trying to see how many chairs the little girl could jump over. The only reason Mrs. Gilter brought him here was probably so that she could keep an eye on him and make sure he wasn't up to anything 'shifty'. We-hell... she was going to have to try harder than that.

"Hey, Jimmy, I need a favour." Sothe leaned on one of the chairs, whispering to one of the two boys. "I'm on a mission..."

"I'm Tyler..."

Sothe frowned. Where was everyone today? "Tyler? Where's Jimmy? Never mind that, I need a favour."

"I only have two-seventy-five," Tyler said, scratching the back of his head.

"No, I don't need money. I need you to create a distraction..." Sothe looked into the kitchen, and Tyler grinned, showing slightly pointed teeth. This freaked Sothe out. Maybe he was a Branded, maybe the pointed teeth came from cat genes... Not that he was prejudiced.

"Okay," Tyler looked to the ceiling, finger on his chin. "I'll see what I can do."

Sothe smiled as Tyler let the room, sneaking from the kitchen and down the hall, probably upstairs. A few minutes later, when the soup was finally on the stove, he came bounding back into the kitchen, gasping for breath.

"Mrs. Gilter! Upstairs, Sally went and-"

The elderly woman didn't wait for him to finish, she was already bustling out of the room. "Oh, that girl, what has she done now?"

"You know those vases in the fifth floor hall? She going nuts and knocking everything over!" Tyler exclaimed, following her out of the room.

With that, Sothe left the room, once again on the way to Gilter's office. Sothe didn't like the caretaker of the orphanage, but he did like her office. It was cleaner than everywhere else, it had cabinets that probably had not only old things, but dirt he could dig up on his roommates, and it had many a trinket on the bookshelves. He didn't really care much for the books, though, they were boring, he checked. And there was a computer on her desk that, if he was lucky, wasn't locked when she wasn't in the room. If he was lucky, he could have a few minutes of internet time with her breathing down his neck, and he could fiddle around with whatever document she was working on. Okay, so maybe he was a little bad, that still didn't mean that he was the devil for wearing cool shirts.

He hopped behind the desk and sat in the chair, letting it spin for a few seconds before getting to work. He touched the mouse and the screensaver died away, revealing... Facebook? She had Facebook? Who on Tellius would want to be on her friends list? But he didn't have time to check; only a few seconds had passed before he heard Mrs. Gilter's heavy steps coming back down the stairs, and he could tell she was scolding Tyler for causing trouble. And any second, she was going to come in here and check that he hadn't trespassed, because he was 'obviously' the mastermind behind it.

He couldn't hide under the desk, there was no back to it and everything else was pushed against the wall. So he pulled the trick that got her every time (except when he was a kid and she expected him to hide there). He bounded across the room and hid right behind the door so that when Mrs. Gilter entered a couple seconds later, she swung the door open, hiding him. He held his breath, counting the seconds that she usually stood in the door, her sharp eyes combing the room, looking for anything out of place. Really, he was still relatively thin, he didn't know why she didn't check behind the door like she used to. He grinned as she left, shutting the door and shouting his name down the hall.

He tip-toed back to the desk, ignoring the screen and deciding that he'd really rather not know who was on her Facebook. He'd been in this room many times before, but every time he still checked the drawers because there always seemed to be something different in them. Maybe someone was being adopted, maybe some poor soul was being put up for adoption, maybe she'd gotten a hold of student records or maybe there was just some random stuff from her life away from this orphanage. Maybe there was money.

The first drawer on the left was nothing special. He noticed it never was. Just some random papers that he didn't really care for. The second drawer… Apparently some girl named Sally Marvin was coming to the orphanage. Great, they already had a Sally and he had trouble walking in straight lines at any given time, though Sothe still didn't know where she got what ever drug she must have been on. He hoped this Sally would be a little bit more… modest. The third drawer had a few extra pencils and paper and the likes – what's this? A cell phone? He picked it up, inspecting its shiny pink back for a second before pressing a button… It was locked. Boring, he tossed it back in the drawer and shut it, wondering why Mrs. Gilter of all people had a cell phone, a _pink _cell phone of all things.

There were only two drawers on the right side, and he ignored the first one, it was always the same. If someone had caused trouble, there was a sheet she made the person fill out, asking them if what they did was wrong and all that crap. He'd filled out his fair share. The second drawer was locked…. Or maybe it was just stuck with a piece of gum or something, it usually wasn't locked… Sothe looked around the top of the desk, quickly spotting some bobby pins near a pencil sharpener. He grabbed one, making quick work of the locked drawer. This woman really ought to work harder…

Jackpot! Sothe didn't bother with the papers, just the coins and bills that had been unceremoniously thrown into the drawer. There was only twenty dollars in all, but he'd been… collecting for a while, what's a few more to add to the stash under his mattress? He decided not to use his pockets; she'd probably ask him to turn them out after lunch anyway, so he shoved the five dollars into his sock and slid the drawer shut. He stood up, flicking imaginary dust off his shoulders and walked purposely out of the room. Not much, but at least he got something.

When he arrived back in the kitchen, lunch was just about ready and the dining room had gotten substantially more crowded. There were few things he liked about this orphanage, but the wide variety of people here allowed him to say that he knew what people were talking about, even when they insisted he didn't. There were beorc, there were Branded, there were cats, there were tigers, there were hawks, there were ravens, and the best thing is that they all knew that they were in the same boat until they were adopted, so there really was no point to not accepting anybody. It was like a safe-haven at the same time as hell.

He could feel the coins in the bottom of his sock, clicking lightly against the floor as he walked, hoping that nobody heard. He didn't feel like talking to anybody today, despite his recent 'victory' in Mrs. Gilter's office, the day was still dull. He was bored and he knew that there really wasn't much he could spend five dollars on.

"And where were you, Sothe, when I was looking for you?" Mrs. Gilter scrutinized him as she filled his bowl with soup.

Sothe acted like he didn't know what she was talking about and attempted to be polite. "You were looking for me? Sorry, I was in the washroom, I really had to go."

"Hm…" She left it at that and Sothe turned away, letting her dole out soup to another orphan as he snaked through the crowd with his own. It wasn't much, some weird combination of vegetable and alphabet soup that the majority of the other orphans were eating with buttered bread. He finished it quickly, still fiddling with the money in his sock with his toes. But it wasn't over yet, it never was, because to Mrs. Gilter, Sothe was the devil and she wasn't stopping until she had proof of his disobedience. He needed a distraction to get out and back to his room with her checking his pockets and probably his socks along with them.

He looked across the table, the same chair-jumping, pig-tailed girl was sitting in her chair, drinking water… and an idea came to him. He slouched in his chair slightly, reaching his foot out and gave her chair a light kick. This caused the girl to shriek in surprise and drop her cup, which hit the side of her bowl, spilling soup and water over the table. What happened next, Sothe didn't anticipate.

The cup hit the bowl, and rolled into another cup, successfully knocking that over which spilled even more water, causing another girl to jump up. She swung her arm over her own bowl and straight into the face of the boy sitting next to her. Sothe was sure this was an accident, but the boy cursed, bringing his hand to his nose and in the process, knocking over his soup and further surprising the other people at the table. It was a mess. Sothe was sure it couldn't have been better – or worse, depending on how you looked at it. But it was. Obviously, somebody at the table behind them thought they had started a miniature rebellion against Mrs. Gilter, because Sothe watched as a cat sitting near them smirk and purposely knocked his own cup over, not that Mrs. Gilter saw this. The moment the first up was over, she was trying to sort out the mess, telling the little girl to go fetch some paper towels.

Sothe took his chance, announcing that he would help with the cleanup, and bounded out of the room, grinning. He skipped the supply closet in the kitchen and ran up the stairs, listening to the rising laughter and shouting from the dining room. He pulled his sock off and dumped the money into his hand and quickly tossed it under the mattress. By the time he returned downstairs again, paper towels in hand, people were still trying to figure out what happened in the first place and Mrs. Gilter was still trying to keep everything under control. Sothe bet she wished that Sunday wasn't the day that the rest of the staff got the day off.

"I've got paper towels!" he announced happily, as if he were just as confused as the rest of them. Mrs. Gilter glared at him.

* * *

When Mist was younger, she'd asked their father why they needed police if Serenes was a country that prohibited most forms of violence. Greil told her that just like there were kids on the playground that would push you and call you names, there were bad people who would always try to break the law. Someone needed to be there to stop them, so that's why he was there. This inspired her to write an essay last month on safety, which won her a writing award at her school. It wasn't uncommon for things like that to happen to Mist, she was a model student, she took after their late mother.

So, it wasn't that Mist wasn't at dinner today because she was helping her friend with a history assignment that was surprising to Greil. What was surprising to Greil was that though Ike was at the table, he was doing… science homework. Homework at dinner was, in itself, a rarity, now it was science?

"I know," Ike said through a mouthful of hamburger, "But I really want to get a good mark this year so I don't fail."

Greil watched his son tap his head with his pencil, glance at his textbook and then scrawl an answer down on his page. "You could transfer out, you know, Ike. I know science isn't your thing."

Ike shook his head. "Naw, I don't want to give up just yet. Besides, I got someone to help me study. He's really good at pretty much everything."

His father smiled, Ike never changed. Even in school, when he was completely terrible at something and not afraid to admit it, he wouldn't give it up. He might not have Mist's straight A's, but Ike still made him proud. "That new kid, right?"

Ike nodded. "I asked him to tutor me and he said I would if I stopped bothering him. I don't know why he doesn't want to be friends."

"Everybody's different, Ike. He's probably had a tough life, or maybe he's just so intent on where he want to get, he doesn't want to spare the rest of the world a glance." Greil paused as Ike stopped to read from his book. "He's only just got here, give him some time to settle in. Don't be so straight forward all the time."

"I just asked him if he wanted a ride home because his bag looked really heavy… do you think that's too forward?"

"Compared to what he's probably used to…" Greil chuckled. "Yeah, you should probably back down a little. You're going to scare him."

"I don't think he can be scared, for all I know, he could be this crazy stalker out to get us all."

"So you've said, you haven't talked about anything for the last week but him. Soren this, Soren that, don't worry dad, he'll be my friend eventually, I just have to keep annoying him." Greil laughed. If Titania was here now to see this… "So, Ike… how is your mark, by the way?"

Ike didn't respond right away. He looked at the ceiling and tapped the pencil against the table. "Um… Maybe a… Hm… I'm not failing!" He exclaimed quickly. "Just so you know, not a fail yet,"

"Yet?"

"No! I think I'm at… somewhere between fifty... and fifty-two…? Maybe?" Ike looked up nervously and met his dad's eyes. Greil frowned, giving him a disapproving look. "Uh… are you mad?"

Greil was silent for a few more seconds, which dragged by painfully slow. Then his façade broke and he burst out laughing.

"Uh… heheh… yeah…. What are we laughing at?"

"Ah, nothing, nothing." Greil waved a hand, still chuckling. "I know science isn't your forte, wasn't mine either, but at least you're trying hard, right?"

Ike dropped the pencil as he finished his burger and lifted the homework that Soren assigned him. "I'm pretty sure I got half of these wrong, but Soren will check it over tomorrow."

"You're doing more homework for him than your teacher," Greil mused. With that, Ike folded the paper and left it in the cover of his textbook.

"I hate thinking about all these... stupid laws of light and reflections..." Ike whined uncharacteristically, covering his head with his arms. "It's light! It comes, bounces off something, and goes!" He looked up, school gone from the mind, just more food. "Do we have any more left?"

"In the pan, leave some for your sister. And stop whining, there are worse things than physics!"

"Mist won't acre, she just eats veggies now. And tofu," Ike said, fixing himself another hamburger. "She'll probably eat over there anyway."

Greil nodded, the kitchen lapsing into silence with the exception of his chewing and Ike fiddling with the ketchup bottle. Usually Mist would be here to rant about her day, successfully filling the silence, be she wasn't. Ike didn't find much interesting to say about his days, so he usually just sat there and listened with half an ear while reading a sports magazine or something of the like. He'd send someone a text, but it was dinner time. That would be rude.

"I sense snow on the way," Ike said randomly, looking out the window at the dark street.

"And what makes you say that?"

"It's cold."

"Really."

"And it's winter."

"That's a shoe in for snow."

"And I watched the Weather Network."

"We should go to Daein and see how you fair there. I hear they've already got feet of snow."

"I'm telling you, you'll see. They'll be snow on the ground; there will be, just wait."

"I didn't know you took up prophesying."

"I get my power from the magical cable of television."

"Indeed? And where can I find this magic cable?"

"In the land of the living room. Beware, it is a perilous quest, you may need every man you can get."

"Shall we move out, then, 'General' Ike?"

"Yes, we take the fortress by surprise, onward!"

"For the glory of the house!"

"And Sunday night football!"


	9. 9 The Best Time to Test?

I decided for some reason that the first chapters would be the first week of the story day by day. But now that we finally got past Sunday (that was not a fun chapter to write, honestly), we can get on with it and time shall pass with the speed of… whatever the heck time can pass with the speed of. Of whatever I want!

Ahem, anyway. In this chapter, a secret is revealed… Ike is confident… What's the secret? Why is Ike confident? I don't know. Three seconds of reading this is three seconds less of finding out.

Read on!

* * *

**9-The Best Time to Test Counting and Stalking Skills?**

* * *

"I've prepared a little test for you today, to see if anything you've studied over the past week has really stuck or not. It shouldn't take long; in fact, we should still have extra time at the end."

"You've helped me a lot," Ike smiled, pulling his pencil from his pocket. "Thanks."

Soren merely slid his test across the table in response.

So began nearly an hour or silence as Ike read over the test and proceeded to answer questions in no visible pattern. Soren would say that he was astounded that even after a week, Ike had adopted no better form or test-writing, but he didn't say anything. He wasn't astounded. He'd actually thought that Ike might have gone as far as to try to write it backwards, hardest first. During the first minutes, Soren convinced himself that Ike was doing what any other mathematically and scientifically challenged student would do: easiest first. Yes, of course.

He was enjoying this silence, and he really couldn't wait until tomorrow, when Ike would finally be off his hands and he could eat his lunch in peace. Of course, he didn't want to get his hopes up. He'd transferred out of his math class with Ike in order to put some distance between them. There was no possible way that Ike would be able to follow him to advanced calculus, there just wasn't. That hadn't stopped the jock from tracking him down again at his locker on Monday.

"_Hey," Soren didn't look over as Ike approached. "I didn't see you in math."_

"_Of course not, seeing as I am not in that class any longer," Soren said, loading his bag with his new math textbook._

"_You transferred?" Ike frowned and read the front of the book, which he figured Soren held in front of his locker longer than needed to prove his point. "To advanced calculus?"_

"_Yes, I'm afraid that class just wasn't as much of a challenge that I wanted. I'm used to more difficult problems, so I transferred." _

"…_Oh." Ike was silent for a few seconds. Soren figured he was feeling awkward now since he could no longer claim that they should be friends because they were classmates, or because he'd caught the second reason in his tone. "Then I guess we're not in any classes with each other anymore, that's unfortunate."_

"_Really? I find my new class much more interesting, and I've only attended one class." Soren replied sardonically. _

_Ike laughed. "Yeah, I bet it is. I've never been good with calculus, there's no way I'd even get through the lesson. It's definitely more challenging than mine is then, right?"_

"_Indeed."_

"_Harder, and I bet you get more homework every day, too, right?"_

"_Yes, what of it?"_

"_Well, you get more homework, so you have to take more home, and sooner or later, you're going to end up one of those old guys that can't stand up straight because their backs hurt too much in a few years." Ike's smile didn't falter as Soren gave him a quick glare._

"…_What are you getting at?" That was a dumb question._

"_Do you want a ride?"_

"_For the love of – no."_

"_See you later, Soren!"_

Soren recalled this moment as Ike continued to write. The same thing had happened yesterday, and the same would probably happen today. He really needed to find a way to get it through Ike's head that he didn't want to be friends and he never would!

Suddenly, Soren froze. After two days, when he recalled this incident, it occurred to him that Ike did not catch any of the meanings that he'd intended in his words. In fact, Ike had made up an entirely different meaning from them. He told Ike that he was used to more challenging problems… Now, he was sure that Ike was now only going to try harder until he gave in. Soren kicked himself mentally. This was not the result he wanted! It was the opposite! Then he smirked slightly. Well, if Ike was going to take that road, he would just have to deal with it. Ike make have been able to break people down before, but he would not be one of those people.

He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. He closed his eyes, thinking of possible ways to dissuade Ike, basking in the silence. He realized after a minute that it really was silent. Ike was most likely stuck on a problem, but when pencil didn't hit paper after another minute, Soren opened one eye and immediately met Ike's. How long had he been staring at him?

"Are you finished already?" He asked icily, hoping that the slight heat in his cheeks wasn't visible.

Ike shook his head, lowering his head quickly and turning the sheet over. "No,"

Didn't think so…

Soren wasn't sure how much time had passed after that, but he felt that it had passed too quickly.

"I'm done." Ike slid the paper back across the table and smiled as he dropped his pencil. "I even did it neatly."

Soren eyed him silently as he lifted the test… It wasn't really what he called 'neat', but at least it was legible. "So you are… Did you improvise that last one?"

"My teacher's always telling to leave nothing blank." Ike said in reply and leaned back in his chair.

Soren nodded. "Thought so. I guess I'll mark this and see how you did," he looked up at the clock, ten minutes…

"My midterm is tomorrow," Ike said after a few minutes. He had studied for a week now with Soren in the astronomy room. For that reason, he felt pretty confident that his midterm would not be a fail to remember in his science class. In fact, by his standards, he was sure that he would do very well. He felt that he had done well on this quiz.

"Indeed it is,"

"We have a math test on Friday, too… Well, I do, I don't know about you now." Ike added quickly.

"I just joined the class and I was offered exemption, but I am still writing the test tomorrow." Soren said flatly. He didn't know exactly why he gave detail, but he didn't linger on it.

"That's right!" Ike gasped suddenly, as if he'd completely forgotten about their original deal. He leaned over, digging through his pockets. "I didn't forget, just hold on," he said as he began searching his other pocket. "Here!"

Soren looked over the top of the paper he'd been holding to what Ike had just dropped on the table between them. It was money. "…I wasn't going to ask until tomorrow," he said, hiding his surprise. "Actually, I didn't think you'd even remember, let alone have the money."

"Well, I was saving up," Ike said happily, completely ignoring the tone of his tutor's voice. "…That's enough, right?"

They were all in a crumpled pile on the desk, but Soren counted out the bills, adding up to fifty dollars. "Yes, it is."

"Good. See? I can count," Ike said this as if he were a proud first-grader surrounded by second-graders.

"I don't doubt that," Soren glanced back at the clock as he continued to mark Ike's messy answers. Lunch was nearly over, and Ike realized this, too.

"Sorry, Soren, I gotta go!" He stood up quickly, slinging his bag over his shoulder and stepping around the desk. "Thanks, again! I really owe you!"

"The money is enough," Soren said, but Ike didn't seem to hear, he was already leaving. Why was he rushing?

"I'll tell you how my test goes tomorrow!"

Soren didn't if Ike was going to hold up the last part of their deal or not, now.

* * *

He wasn't sure if Naesala had noticed him yet, but he kept following him slowly through downtown. The raven hadn't turned around and told him off yet, so that must mean he was still in the green. He was determined this time, Naesala was already suspicious of him since last week and Reyson was still telling him he was being insensitive about the whole thing… What did Reyson know? He was always talking to Sanaki; they should just go get married… They broke up last summer, why should Reyson get a say in who he dates now?

…What? Yes, that was the reason he was following him, wasn't it? Naesala seemed to like teasing him and purposely doing things to make people notice him even more so, not that Tibarn really minded noticing him… So what if he maybe liked Naesala? They could be cool together, like prom king and king. Then again, trying to spy on him probably wasn't going to win him over anytime soon. Well, if Naesala didn't make such a big deal of it, he wouldn't have to follow him (spy made him sound like a bad guy), that was justification enough; it wasn't like he was trying to murder him or anything.

So, he continued on, purposely getting stuck behind traffic in order to look like he wasn't doing anything suspicious. It was working, in that respect, but he found himself falling farther and farther behind Naesala, until a truck drove by ahead of him, and by the time it was across the intersection, Naesala was totally gone from view. Tibarn frowned. Surely he should still be able to see him ahead? He jogged forward and discovered the rather obvious reason. Naesala had taken a cut through an alley to the next street. Tibarn sighed, that probably meant that somewhere along the line, Naesala had spotted him and was either trying to confuse him or mislead him or trying to shake him off. Tibarn had never actually gotten this far before, so there was only one way to go from here without totally giving himself away, maybe Naesala always took alleyway shortcuts…

He could see Naesala again, and this time he tried to move quicker, not wanting to lose him again. The raven would probably be angry at him for this, all the more reason to stop, but all this secrecy around his after school schedule just made it too hard to resist going on. He turned a corner and nearly gaped. He'd lost sight of him again! There weren't that many alleys in this area, but Naesala seemed to be taking every chance he had to use them and Tibarn still wouldn't fly unless it was totally hopeless. Damn it, he thought, why does he always have to be so hard to get along with?

It was after the third time that Naesala had taken a sudden turn and disappeared that Tibarn knew for sure that he'd been spotted. Surely, Naesala didn't zigzag between streets every time he came here, unless he wanted more exercise, which he didn't need. But before he was about to just take off and fly, he stopped. Not because trying to follow Naesala was getting ridiculous, but because he was sure now that he'd reached his destination. It was a dance studio. But that only confirmed half his thoughts. He could be doing hip hop or something for all he knew, dance studios don't automatically mean ballet…

He didn't know how long Naesala was going to be in there, and he wasn't about to go in and ask, so he looked around for something to entertain himself with while he waited. He shrugged and turned around, deciding that he might as well just wonder around downtown and see what ever he could see.

* * *

Naesala really hoped that his plan had worked. Leanne was being funny about it, but she didn't have a reputation to keep up, and if Tibarn let out that he did ballet… Well, he didn't want to think about it. It would be fine if people knew that he danced, but then they would probably ask what style and if he lied, they'd ask to see some moves and then he'd be screwed. There were three possible futures from here – Tibarn would have been fooled and gone home and he'd be home free, or he'd arrive at school the next day and be confronted about it, or, even worse, that could be Tibarn… standing right there… outside the studio… crap. Leanne was still inside, planning to leave with her friends and he'd already said good bye… He sighed, trying to look indifferent and walked out.

"So, this is it?" Tibarn's question came only after he'd taken a few steps outside. He was leaning against the wall beside the door, finishing off a small chocolate bar.

He sighed again. "Yes, okay, you found me, are you happy now?"

Tibarn smiled, stepping forward. "Yeah, I guess so. What style do you do?"

"I believe you already know the answer to that." Naesala said acidly.

"Ouch, why so hurtful?" Tibarn realized something, and he snorted with laughter. "Wait – so you do ballet?"

Naesala glared at him. "Shut up! I wanted to play soccer but Nealuchi screwed everything up and I ended up here!"

"Ah, you're right, I'm sorry, I shouldn't laugh…" He was still grinning, but he wasn't laughing anymore. "But still, why didn't you just back out or something?"

The raven shrugged and crossed his arms. "Because… I wouldn't have met Leanne and Reyson, then." He remembered Nealuchi dropping him off here when he was younger, and though the instructor was absolutely _delighted _to have a boy like him join them, he was resolutely _not_ moving from the corner of the mirror-walled room and he was definitely _not_ going to attempt to lift his leg higher than guys should have to lift their legs. This lasted for about five minutes before Leanne wondered over and asked him to practice with her, successfully drawing him, however reluctantly, out of the corner. That was years ago. Now, even if he was afraid to tell anyone from school, he was not afraid to say to anybody in the studio that yes, he was comfortable with having to move in positions that other guys would leave to the girls, and yes, he was now completely content in remaining at the studio at least until Leanne left.

"That's what I thought," Tibarn slid his hands into his pockets, falling silent.

"So?" Naesala looked at him expectantly. If Tibarn though he was going to get away now without answering his question, he was sorely mistaken.

"So… what?"

"Why did you want to know so badly, hm? You said you would tell me." At this, Tibarn stalled. He looked slightly nervous, and Naesala smiled. "Well? Why were you suddenly so interested?"

"Well…" Tibarn scratched the back of his head. It was dark outside, but the heat rising in his cheeks was still visible.

Naesala feigned surprise, holding his hand over his mouth and gasping. "Oh my, does the big, tough hawk…" he said, dragging his finger across Tibarn's shoulder as he walked around him, standing between his wings. "…_Like _me?"

Tibarn's wings twitched, but he didn't move away. "…Maybe, if I asked, would you go out with me?"

Naesala laughed quietly. Tibarn was just… insufferable. Yeah, that's why he liked annoying the hawk all the time, because he was annoying to him. Not only that, but he was the one that had been friends with Reyson since before they even had a grasp of what the word meant and then Tibarn just waltzes in and steals his best friend… Jerk… And then they started dating for a year even though Naesala made it quite clear that he was available… Okay, so maybe he didn't love the hawk, but didn't everybody like him? Maybe he would consider going out with him, but there was still the current situation to handle…

"What?"

"I was just thinking, now that you know, what are you going to do about it?"

Tibarn shrugged. "I don't know, I didn't think about that part. I never thought it would only take this long. But…"

"You're not going to tell your friends? That'd be great, 'oh, look, there's Naesala the ballerina! Hey, where's you tutu, Naesala?'"

"Did people make fun of you before?" Tibarn finally turned around and faced him. "There are men that do ballet, you know."

"I know that, I'm not the only guy in there, but how many guys do you know go around flaunting their ability to pirouette? And do you know what people would think if I did tell anyone? Seeker already thinks I'm going to put on make up and run around in a dress!"

"Whoa… Are you?"

Naesala slapped his shoulder. "No! I'm not that gay!"

"Okay, okay, just checking!" Tibarn stared into his eyes and spoke softer. "I wouldn't tell anyone, if you take it that serious."

"Good." Ne felt relieved, for the time being, his secret was supposedly safe, according to Tibarn. He wouldn't actually mind having the hawk as his boyfriend, now; they could be cool together, like prom king and king.

"Wait, does this mean you will go out with me?"

Naesala smirked, deciding to tease him while he could. "Hmm… I'll think about it, okay? But only if you promise not to say anything to anybody!"

Tibarn look as if some weight had been lifted off his chest and he grinned. "I won't! Really, if it's that much to you. I don't think it's all that bad, you know, I think it's great that you do it. There aren't enough guys out there that would want to take that on since it's mostly considered a girl's thing. It's like embracing your feminine side."

"Well, thanks for that, then, but I think we should get going soon. I think we've given a good enough show to Leanne and her friends."

"What?" Tibarn spun around and saw one of Leanne's friends jump back from the transparent door, pretending that she wasn't watching them. "I almost forgot, Leanne goes here too."

"That's what I said," Naesala grabbed his arm as Leanne and her friends filed out of the building. "Now come on, the least you can do is walk us home."

"All of you?"

The girls giggled.

Naesala looked at him like the answer was obvious, still enjoying teasing him. "Well, yeah! What, you're just going to leave all these lovely ladies to fend for themselves in the dark? How ungentlemanly!"

"Let's go, Tibarn!" Leanne cheered.

"Alright, fine, let's go!"


	10. 10 Fake the Drama, Make the Romance

I feel so happy, reviews and the like make me all giddy and then I have the urge to write because I love hearing what you guys say! See? It's a win-win situation. Now the only problem is that I really want to read some Naesala/Tibarn stories, but I've read all there is here…

But anyway! We finally get a pairing (even though my attempt at the beginning of romance is… less than commendable…) and some stuff between Ike and Soren (which I never actually planned, but it happened anyway).

I own not Fire Emblem.

Read on!

* * *

**10-Fake the Drama, Make the Romance**

* * *

"_I did my test today,"_

"…_I thought we agreed that you would leave me alone when we were done?"_

"_Yeah, we did, but shouldn't the end be when we've seen the results of the test, so you know if your tutoring worked?"_

_When Ike put it that way, he did have a good point, and Soren _was _interested to know if his work had helped Ike at all. Maybe he wasn't such a block head after all. "I suppose you're right,"_

"_Some of the problems I had were kind of related to the ones on your test, too. Did you get the questions off the internet or something?" Ike leaned against the lockers and Soren paused, deciding that it wouldn't hurt to set that right._

"_No, I just used my notes from my previous science class to make them up. I didn't even think I would need that book again, but apparently life had other ideas." He wasn't one for philosophy, life was life and that was that, but if there was something like fate or whatever, he wished that it would stop setting him the same path as Ike. He'd stopped hoping that Ike would leave him alone long ago, but he was still adamant that it was because he knew Ike wouldn't be deterred, not because his mother's reprimands had finally done something. _

"_I thought I did really well, well, not really, but good enough. It was kind of easier than I thought it would be." Ike went on in a seemingly one-sided conversation, filling in the gaps where Soren refused to. It was when the pair was about half way down the hallway when Soren realised something different about today than yesterday and last week. _

_Not only was Ike still talking to him and hadn't asked if he wanted a ride yet, they were walking down the hall together to the entrance of the school, and Soren had yet to do anything to chase him off. He wasn't listening to Ike, per say, but his voice was more of background music._

_When they reached the doors, Ike grinned. "Wow, would you look at that snow! Getting cold out here…"_

_Soren followed him out silently, watching the flakes falling down. Ike thought it was cold, but this was only chilly to Soren, who'd spent most of his life in Daein's harsher winters. By now, there would already be much more snow than this, so much that someone as optimistic as Ike would be sick of it three days in. "Cold? This is nothing compared to Daein, you wouldn't be so optimistic there, I bet."_

_Ike laughed. "Yeah, probably not, I don't mind cold, but I'd still like to wake up on warm days, sometimes. Serenes has weird weather patterns, so I don't mind it. It was kind of chilly where I came from, too. I'm from Crimea, but dad moved us here." _

_Ike looked like he didn't want to pursue the subject as to why he moved here, but even if he wanted to, Soren wasn't going to push it. He nodded, and started to walk away._

"_It's pretty windy out here, are you sure you don't want a ride home?" Ike asked after him._

_He didn't turn around. "No, I'll be fine."_

"_You're brother's getting a ride," Ike said. Soren didn't know how Ike knew about Pelleas, probably that 'Ranulf' person that tells him things. Soren didn't care too much about the social happenings in the school. They were just trivial things, stupid teenager acts that could easily be avoided if anybody actually used their brains._

"_My brother has the perseverance ability of a spoon, I'll be fine."_

"_See you later, Soren!" _

The astronomy room was finally quiet again. Soren smiled lightly as he ate his lunch, slowly reading through a book. No more Ike and his science problems, soon to be no Ike at all… He loved the silence…

"_I passed_!"

Soren nearly chocked on his sandwich as Ike almost literally burst through the door.

"I got a sixty-four, I _passed_!" Ike made it to Soren faster than he thought possible, and his bear hug was _not _helping his recovery process. "Thank you, Soren! I'm not gonna fail and I'm not gonna get killed now!"

I wouldn't be so sure about that, Soren thought and started to wriggle out of Ike's grasp. "Gah – Ike! What are you – doing!"

"I'm thanking you," Ike said happily, and then he quickly stepped back. "Sorry, you don't like hugs, do you?"

"Not especially," Soren sighed as he straightened out his clothes, smoothing out wrinkles and trying to collect himself again. "Now, before you tried to suffocate me, what were you yelling about?"

"Look!" Ike held up his test only inches from Soren's face. Written in red ink on the corner of the test was 'Well done, Ike!' and under that, '62%'.

"Ike, that's sixty-two, not a sixty-four,"

Ike looked confused for a split second as he looked at the mark again. "Oh, so it is. Her writing sometimes confuses me, but that's not so bad either! I still passed, and it's all thanks to you! Man, I can't _wait_ to rub this in Ranulf's face!"

"Yes, well, gloating aside, congratulations, Ike, it seems you do have the capacity for knowledge. Somewhat," Soren added. He took his seat and tried to collect the remains of his sandwich that had fallen apart as he jumped when Ike came in.

"I knew you'd say something like that," Ike said, folding up the test papers and taking the seat across from Soren again. "So, I brought actual proof that I'm not a block head in every field."

"Really?"

"Yep," Ike smiled as he pulled a binder from his backpack and dropped it on the table. 'ANCIENT HISTORY' was written across the front in big block letters. There was an assortment of doodles, probably in permanent marker on it as well. Swords, shields, crests, the likes. They were really rather well drawn, to say the least. Soren recognized some as the old Crimean and Daein crests. "It's my history book," Ike stated, and from it, pulled another test.

Had Soren been anyone else, both eyebrows would have risen very high, but he limited himself, because he still wasn't going to be showing too much of his emotions around Ike. Speaking of said jock, he was clearly not joking when he said history was his highest mark. 'Excellent' was written on the top of the paper, along with '94%'.

"People are always surprised when they see my history marks. That class is really interesting to me, the way things worked back then, they way they lived… it's so different from today, you have to wonder how we even got here. We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the people who lived way back then," Ike explained fondly.

"That true," Soren agreed, taking the test to look over it. The back of the test was filled with writing, and it was there that Soren made a connection that he'd never thought about before. In Ike's messy writing was a description of his namesake's adventures and his tactician…

"They were never seen again, you know?" Ike said as Soren read. "After the second war, they supposedly just up and left. No one knows where they went or what happened to them, if they died or settled somewhere… Don't you think it's weird? I know all of these people and it's kind of like déjà vu, because there were people just like them, centuries ago… It's like history is repeating itself… minus the wars."

"Possibly…" Soren set the paper on the table again and stared down at the remainder of his lunch.

"His tactician's name was Soren, too." Ike continued. "And it was Soren that was always thinking up these ideas that got them out of all the messes they were in during the wars. They were really close, too, apparently Soren didn't truly trust anyone but him, and they were really close to each other."

Soren frowned, irritation suddenly flaring up inside him. "Is this another one of your attempts to befriend me? I _told_ you many times now; I have _no_ desire to be anyone's friend! Now that we've seen the results of your test, I think that unless the deal itself has to be ancient history for you to recall it, you may leave me alone now!"

"I don't understand why you don't want any friends, you know. Wouldn't it be nice to have someone there to look out for you?"

"Well, Ike, have you ever thought that not everybody _needs _some one to 'look out' for them? I have been perfectly fine on my own for years, and I can be just as successful alone as with _friends_. I don't need help and I don't want to have to help anybody else through their lives. When I get out of here, I know where I'm going, and I don't need anybody else to slow me down!"

Ike didn't move as Soren packed his lunch and stood up, leaving the room without another word. He didn't check to see if Ike had followed him either as he walked down the hall. It occurred to him that he might have hurt the jocks feelings, but he didn't care, it was Ike's own fault for not listening in the first place. He didn't need anybody else, he was fine on his own, having other around him or getting attached to him – it would only slow him down. He knew where he wanted to go in the future…

…But where was he going now?

* * *

If what Soren said at lunch was anything to go by, he would probably be angry if Ike 'bothered' him again. But Ike felt uneasy since then, he needed to apologize because it wasn't his place to say who did and didn't need friends. If Soren didn't want friends, then that was his choice. So, Ike wanted to apologize for… well, being a nuisance.

"…Hey."

"What." Soren didn't look up.

"I wanted to apologize – for earlier." Ike kept a larger distance from the smaller boy, just in case that heavy looking textbook made a sudden flight in his direction. "I was really trying to push you, and I shouldn't have. If you want to be alone, I'm not at liberty to try and change that… I just thought, well, if something happened to anybody, they should have someone to call a friend, so that they wouldn't be alone… But, uh, I guess someone like you probably wouldn't run into a situation like that, so… Sorry. If you want me to leave you alone, I will."

Ike was just about to join the crowd of students leaving the school when Soren spoke.

"I overreacted," Soren said, pausing in his packing. "Your intentions weren't malicious, so I shouldn't have acted in the ways I did."

Ike smiled lightly. "That's alright; I guess I just kind of took it for being shy or something… See you later, then."

Soren nodded, even if Ike didn't see it.

* * *

"Eh? What are you doing?"

"You're coming with me,"

"Coming with you where?"

And it was that question that seemed to have landed Tibarn on a plastic pink chair inside the downtown dance studio, surrounded by mothers that were either knitting, reading or watching their daughters practice ballet. He wasn't exactly sure why Naesala had brought him here, but he figured that he should agree with him if he wanted to go out with him. He also figured that he was probably here for two possible reasons: Naesala wanted to prove that ballet was not just a girl's dance (there was a beorc guy in there that looked like one of those teenage boys that were forced into something by their underappreciated mothers), or so that he could be embarrassed by all of these mothers, who thought it was just absolutely _adorable _that he was here for his girlfriend (because they had no idea that he had no intention of dating Leanne, or any girl, for that matter).

So, he was pretty content with just sitting there (even if he was sitting in the least manly situation he ever thought he would be in), watching Naesala and Leanne go through the steps and talking to some lady who was apparently going to be a prima ballerina before she busted her ankle. Supposedly her daughter was there to get the title in her place, but Tibarn didn't tell her that it would be highly unlikely with Leanne in there. He didn't want to be rude, of course.

There were plus sides to this, of course. First, he no longer had to worry about strange images of Naesala in a tutu, because half the people in the room weren't even wearing skirts today. Maybe it was just a Friday thing, but the popular choice seemed to be tights or sweatpants and t-shirts.

"Isn't she just wonderful?" The woman beside him had said this at least three times now. "I'm so proud of her."

So, in the spirit of being polite, he responded every time. "The black-haired one, right? Yeah, she is. How long has she been doing this, again?"

"I signed her up when she was only a little girl, only three years old, and she just fit right in." The woman explained fondly. Tibarn was still amazed that beorc aged so quickly. Three? Really? That's insane! At three years old, he was still in his mother's arms! He couldn't even talk until he was nearly twenty! It was astounding.

"Ballet used to be my life…" The woman continued. "Oh, but look at the way she twirls! She's always been my little star!"

Tibarn got the feeling that that girl was a very spoiled child indeed.

"And what about you, do you have any interest in the arts?" A few other women looked in their direction.

"Hm… does that include music? I can play guitar," Tibarn said.

The woman sighed. "I just don't think young people have enough interest in the arts. What better way to express your feelings than that? And violence is definitely not the way to go," the mothers nodded in agreement. "Do you know how many people are jumping off of bridges everyday? If only they could channel all of those negative feelings into something…"

"I think others would really be able to get an idea of what depressed people are feeling," Tibarn said. "Maybe they wouldn't need to go to such extreme levels just to get away."

"That's what I'm talking about!" The woman said. "See, you may not look it, but you're a smart man!"

Tibarn wasn't sure if he should take that as an insult or not. Did his scars offend?

The woman's attention was back to the dancers. "Oh, that little red-haired girl is just not cut out for this, I don't think. She's not moving her feet enough, this is the big leagues! She should be in a lower class; she obviously isn't as dedicated as the rest."

"The big leagues? So, this class is only for those that are really dedicated to it? How long do they do this, anyway?"

"Two and a half hours," the woman replied. She smiled up at him, "And you're sacrificing your after-school life to come and watch! Oh, it's so hard to find boys like you these days…"

Tibarn nodded. "You know what else is hard to find? Guys that would have the guts to come in here," he said, referring to the only two males in the room.

"That's true."

Another woman spoke up. "I don't think enough men try to embrace their feminine side and my son… Oh, he was just right out against anything 'artsy'; he'd be running around acting like my husband if I hadn't signed him up." She pointed to her son.

The amount of time these women could go on amazed Tibarn. One thing leads to another, and another and they never stopped. Good men were hard to find, good teenagers were hard to find, Leanne, as elegant and pretty as she was, had wings that would get in the way and therefore wasn't 'as fit' for the role of the prima ballerina as their daughters were (Tibarn rejected that). Apparently half the dancers weren't as dedicated as they should be, everyone in the world had a secret love for the arts, knitting hats for wings was not only completely unfashionable, but a horrendous idea, that cat laguz had too many piercings, fashion itself was overstated…

It was like who ever was in this waiting room was immediately part of thier circle, and whether he wanted to be or not, Tibarn was in half the conversations. But he didn't mind, they gave him food after a while, since the chances were that he'd missed dinner. They also gave him fashion tips, and relationship tips, and told him a variety of things that he didn't even think that anyone knew. Perhaps he didn't give women enough credit. News traveled like wildfire around them, faster than Janaff spread things.

So he alternated between strange conversation and watching Naesala. His wings folded and stretched in turn to enable him to execute the correct movements, he watched the raven move in ways he never did during school, smooth and diligent. It annoyed him though, when Naesala was facing in his direction several times, he seemed to be purposely ignoring him, even though Leanne smiled in his direction. They started an exercise mirroring a partner's movements and Tibarn clasped his hands together tightly in an attempt to restrain himself from walking into the class. Naesala was mirroring Leanne's actions, which involved him spinning around quite quickly and then bending back. His shirt left his hip uncovered and Tibarn _really_ wanted to just kiss him right then and there, and maybe see just how far he could bend back while he was at it.

"You move good,"

"I'm hurt, is that all you have to say?"

"What do you want me to say?"

Naesala shrugged, letting the chilly breeze push at his back as they flew over downtown.

"I could tell you that you could totally work something pink, but I don't think you'd appreciate that." Tibarn grinned.

"No, I probably wouldn't, even though I could."

The only thing breaking their silence now was their wings beating against the air; it was making Tibarn nervous that Naesala wasn't saying anything. At the same time, he didn't mind it. They just flew in silence, over the lights of the city but under the lights of the stars peaking through the clouds. It was peaceful, calm. It wasn't until they landed on the snowy ground that Naesala said anything.

"So, I've been thinking about Monday," the raven said, hands clasped behind his back.

"It took you almost a week to make your decision?"

"No," Naesala smirked. "I just wanted to make you squirm. Okay, listen, you were really good to Reyson,"

"You aren't going to turn into one of those really demanding girls, are you?" Tibarn interrupted, "Because Reyson had a really demanding schedule."

Naesala laughed, the sound echoed down the quiet street. "No, this is my last shot before I go out into the world to bigger and better things," he paused. "This is pretty much my last year here, so you have to help me make it a good one." With that, Naesala leaned forward and pressed his lips against Tibarn's cheek. Tibarn leaned forward, but the raven was already walking away to his front door, humming.

"What, I don't get an actual kiss?"

Naesala glanced over his shoulder with a smirk before he entered the house. "Nope."

Tibarn stood alone on the sidewalk for a few moments, staring up at the house. Then he grinned as he walked away, even if Naesala seemed intent on driving him to the brink of sanity throughout the duration of their relationship, but he was happy with the overall result of the night.


	11. 11 Slap Slap Slap

I should probably apologize for the long wait. I was really planning on writing during the summer, but I never did, and then I thought 'oh, school's started again, I'll have more inspiration!' Now I feel guilty for not updating anything in a long time, so I started writing again.

It's been a very long time since I got passed chapter ten in anything I've written, but look here! It's chapter eleven! Now I feel epic, and making me feel epic is not hard. Emails from fan fiction in general make me happy. Anyway! Today, we see Sothe making an attempt to get his mind off Micaiah via following some advice from Tormod, and Sanaki and the hawks return again!

I don't own Fire Emblem…

Read on!

* * *

**11-Slap Slap Slap... Crap.**

* * *

Volunteer work wasn't the most fun thing in the world; Sothe didn't know what the heck Thomas was talking about. Technically though, this wasn't volunteer work; he was just helping a few of the girls in the orphanage walk around the neighbourhood selling cookies for their fundraiser. Sothe scoffed, the cookie selling thing had been done so many times, he was sure that the orphanage and the girl scouts were competitors when it came to the door-to-door cookie selling business.

But alas, it got him out and about, even if it was really cold outside and they were selling some form of cookie in the shape of trees and wreaths and all the rest of those annoying Christmas symbols. Even if it meant trailing after a bunch of little girls in scarves and hats that they threw off into the winds because they loved seeing him go get them off the road while they pulled their little red wagon along the snowy sidewalk. One of the wheels was squeaking and the phrase "I'm going to fix your little red wagon" in all of its menacing glory came to mind.

When they objected to stopping at the park, he told them that he was the oldest so he could do what he wanted before telling them to go play on the slide or something. Apparently slides trumped cookie selling for a better future and he wiped snow off the bench and sat, slouching and staring at nothing in particular. He wasn't thinking about much, except for the cold and the wanting of a scarf, but his train of thought was thrown off track when the girls suddenly started screaming. There weren't any words like "help" or "it's going to eat me", so Sothe didn't worry much as three more girls suddenly appeared on the playground.

"Are you watching them?"

Sothe glanced behind him as a girl – his own age, he thought, relieved – approached and sat on the opposite side of the bench.

Sothe nodded. "Yeah, we're on a cookie selling adventure, so they say, we're just taking a break… You?"

"They're my little sisters," the girl said, smiling.

The only thing Sothe could think of was "Oh."

There was silence between them as the girls played, chattering and laughing and generally annoying Sothe with their high-pitched voices.

"My name's Alice, what about you?"

"Sothe," he said at a glance.

"Sothe, huh? Sounds familiar," Alice thought for a moment. "Have we met before?"

Sothe examined her, short-ish, twig thin, auburn hair, brown eyes and freckles. He rummaged through his memory for any Alices that he might have known, no bells were ringing. He shook his head after a moment. "Nope, not that I know."

"Oh," Alice stared at the ground. "I could swear I've heard your name before…"

"There's got to be more than one Sothe in the city,"

"Yeah, point taken…"

They sat in silence again.

"Maybe I know you from school," Alice said. "Do you go to Treslow Street?"

Sothe shook his head again.

"Hm… I guess not, then…" Alice's eyes wandered back to the girls. "Are they relatives?"

"No, they're…" Sothe glanced up at them. "From the orphanage, they're trying to raise money with the cookies."

"Oh," Alice smiled, "That's sweet, and you volunteered to help them? Do you always volunteer at the orphanage?"

"Um… yeah, actually, I have a lot of spare time, so why not help out?" he didn't mention that he himself lived in the orphanage.

"That's good," Alice said with a smile. "They don't have parents or anybody, really, to take care of them… I hear there's always so many kids stuck in those places."

"There is, because they keep coming from other places. People think Serenes is the best place to live and they end up here even though… there isn't really…" Sothe trailed off, frowning.

"Things change once you see the actual story," Alice said. Sothe looked at her, but she was staring in another direction. "Once you learn that there really isn't much there for you..."

"Something wrong?" Sothe asked.

Alice laughed softly. "No, nothing, I was just thinking, it's kind of sad…"

"You sound like you're in the same situation they are," he said, nodding toward the girls who were attempting to build a snowman. "You have a family, right?"

"Of course, those are my sisters."

Sothe thought of Micaiah. "I have a sister," he said. "We aren't related or anything, but we're definitely family."

"What, you're so close there's no point in saying otherwise?"

"Pretty much."

Alice nodded and they were quiet once again. She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a pink cell phone. "It's going to get dark soon," she said. "I should get going."

Sothe nodded. "Yeah, we should too, got to get them back before supper."

Alice giggled and turned to him. "Hey, are you free at all next week?"

Sothe hesitated. Alice reminded him of Micaiah, she gave off an understanding and caring aura and if he got to know her, she was probably a good conversationalist. He could have shrugged and said sure, gotten permission from Gilter to do some volunteer work with Thomas next week and met up with her at some place to talk more, but he didn't.

"No, sorry, I'm busy."

Alice just gave him another sorry smile. "Okay, forget I asked." She stood up, calling her sisters away from the park. She waved as she turned around.

Sothe stared at the ground, thinking about Micaiah again. He sighed, Micaiah, his supposed sister already had Pelleas, and even though it probably wouldn't take long before one of them broke it off, he still realized he was chasing a foolish dream.

The sound of Alice's boots in the snow retreating suddenly brought Tormod's voice into his head.

"_Okay, listen Sothe, I have a plan!"_

"_Is this about the Christmas fireworks being moved?"_

"_No! This is about you and Micaiah! Look, man, you need to get your head out of your ass and think about something else for a change. Every time you see her and Pelleas together, you get all depressed, and seriously, you're makin' me depressed too."_

"_I'll be depressed if I want to." _

"_Yeah, well, it's getting annoying. You know what you need? You need a girlfriend, and before you say it, getting Pelleas into some freakish accident so that you can have Micaiah crying on your shoulder and admitting her love to you is not a realistic plan."_

"_I wasn't thinking anything like that. I'm just going to wait until they break up."_

"_And then what? Creep her Facebook while working up a pitiful amount of courage and then chicken out, that's what, and then the cycle will go around again, and again, and probably again until you turn into some kind of psychopathic serial killer and lock her up in your basement."_

"_What the hell, Tormod. And you think _I _creep people's Facebooks? You should see Micaiah herself!"_

"_She's just being sociable. But stuff like that happens, Sothe! Listen, you know what I've learned through years of experience? Girls get jealous,"_

"_No shit, Sherlock, what else are you going to tell me? Whales are large? Everyone gets jealous."_

"_Yeah, but if you get a girlfriend, Micaiah's going to notice! And then she'll dump Pelleas because she realizes that she loves you and doesn't what some weird bitchy chick on your arm."_

"_That's one of the dumbest plans you've ever told me, Tormod."_

"_Hey, don't knock it until you try it! You have to admit, you really need a distraction until Micaiah's free, so why not? Then you can finally tell someone you actually got a girlfriend since… Oh, wait; have you ever had a girlfriend? That's sad, man, sad."_

"_Shut up and get out of my face, shrimp."_

"_Hey, at least I've had a girlfriend before!"_

"_I don't think Vika experimenting with you counts."_

"_It totally does!"_

"_I'm sure."_

He probably wasn't thinking straight when he turned around on the bench and called out to Alice's retreating back. "Hey, wait!"

Alice looked over her shoulder. "Yeah?"

"I think I might have time over the weekend, how's Sunday?"

"Sure, you know Corner Steps?"

"Somewhere in the area of the library, right?"

"Yep, can you meet me there for lunch?"

"I can try," Sothe shrugged.

"Okay, see you later, then." Alice turned away again with her sisters, who were giggling, "Ooooh, Allie has a booyfrieend!"

Sothe sat on the bench alone, staring at the ground. Now the problem was finding some form of work that would allow him outside the orphanage on Sunday.

Either way, he was going to punch Tormod if this plan ended in disaster of any form.

* * *

She could have complained and said she was cold, but there wasn't really a point. It was quite evident and Janaff would taunt her. Sooner or later, she thought, she would have to have Tibarn teach her to punch like he said he should after a multitude of her slaps had a very small effect on him.

"So, what are we doing out here?"

They weren't doing anything in particular; Sanaki had left a note for Micaiah and met Reyson again in Ryde's park. With all the snow, the park looked like it had expanded. White lead on to more white and was only broken up by trees and the slide and swings. Nothing moved and nothing made a sound, it could have been peaceful.

"Really, Janaff, do you have to be so loud?" Sanaki asked indignantly. She was trying to enjoy the peace, couldn't he see that?

Janaff stopped in his singing. "Alright," he said seriously and put his hands on her shoulders. "It's time, your last test wasn't so brilliant, but spectacular failure is always needed to succeed, young nestling."

"Don't tell me," Sanaki glanced at Reyson and Tibarn snorted.

"Featherless wings will not fly and therefore, a nestling will not progress. You're stuck in a nest and you need to get out!" Janaff said all this with a very un-Janaff like straight face. "It's time for the second test to prove that you can leave that nest behind and even if you fall straight to the ground, you still have the feathers – you have the _guts_ – to be a fledgling."

"You like blowing things out of proportion, don't you?" Sanaki asked simply.

Janaff's eyes narrowed. "So, you want to be a featherless weakling all you life, then?" He crossed his arms. "Then I have nothing left to say to you!"

"You know, if it's any consolation prize, Tibarn did tell me he was going to teach me the art of Janaff-punching."

Janaff made an incoherent noise. "Damn it, Tibarn! You're stealing my thunder!"

Tibarn laughed, "Sorry, but I think Reyson can throw better punches than her, I couldn't let it go ignored!"

"I was raised to be a proper lady, where would I have learned to punch someone?"

"Is that your excuse? You don't _learn_ to punch; you just throw your fist at them, preferably at their face with all the power you can muster!" Janaff said, throwing punches at the air. "It's like a slap, except in fist form."

"As fun as this sounds, I've only got until five, so if you guys are going to keep this up…" Reyson said with a glance to his watch.

"Right, right," Janaff waved his hand. "Okay, we're going to do something else today that won't involve possibly breaking bones or injuring Reyson in any way."

"Does it involve more climbing?"

"Not this time," Janaff lead her over to the swing. "You might not have any wings, which makes you unable to fly on your own no matter what you do, but that don't mean you can't soar. It's the next best thing to flying! It won't even take that long!"

Sanaki looked at the swing, the snow covered seat and the rubber-covered chains that held it up. "Now you want me to jump off of the swing? What kind of test is that?"

"A kind of test that will prove whether or not you're ready to be a fledgling!" Janaff exclaimed happily. "You just have to wipe that snow off, swing real high and then let go! Easy as pie."

"Are you serious?" Sanaki looked at it apprehensively. "Couldn't I get hurt or something?"

"If it makes you fell any better, we can build a giant snow pile to break your fall," Janaff offered.

"Uh, yes, do that…" Sanaki watched as Tibarn and Janaff gathered snow from around the swing and gathered it all into one rectangular pile in the approximate area she would land. If she actually jumped, that is. An image floated into her mind of her letting go of the swing and flying through the air. This image split into several others, some involving her missing the pile entirely and some involved her breaking her legs once she hit the ground. She was probably exaggerating, but still.

"I'm sure it won't be that bad," Reyson said reassuringly. "Janaff's never been able to do something like this before, he's just having fun. I don't think he'd try to seriously injure you or anything."

"I though you guys hung out with other beorc sometimes,"

"Yeah, but Ike and his friends aren't really ones to worry about getting hurt." Reyson shrugged, which really wasn't helping. "Don't worry, if all hell breaks loose, I'm sure they'd catch you."

Janaff was grinning the entire time, so when Sanaki was actually on the swing, she wasn't sure if what Reyson said would actually happen. She stared at the pile for a few seconds, still unsure. She was always unsure around anything that would cause her physical pain. Sephiran always guarded her against that (well, Sigrun and Tanith, mostly), he always kept her safe… This thought made her frown.

"Something wrong?"

"No," she shook her head, pushing Sephiran out of her mind. "Nothing," and with that, the swing started to squeak in an annoying way as she pushed herself from the ground.

"Little higher…" Janaff coaxed. "Little more…"

"Would you be quiet?" Sanaki shot an annoyed look down at him. She watched the hawks standing close to the snow pile, deciding that they did look ready to catch her if all else failed… Surely this cannot be so difficult; she thought to herself, people younger than me do it all the time! She braced herself. People braver than you, too, a thought said. She ignored it as she swung forward and then untwined her fingers from around the chain…

She didn't soar, her fingers clamped down again and her boots dug into the cold ground as she swung back again, coming to a stop. Janaff looked disappointed.

"What'd you stop for?"

"I just – nothing, I just wasn't ready," she lifted her feet off the ground again, ignoring the look on Janaff's face, plainly saying he didn't believe her.

She swung higher again, but before her fingers could let go of the chains, the same fear stabbed at her chest and Sanaki dug her feet into the ground again. She made the excuse of never doing anything remotely dangerous before and tried again, but the result was the same. She stopped, staring at the ground and letting the swing sway lightly but not trying to go higher again.

"You can't do it?" Tibarn questioned when the swing finally stopped squeaking.

"Are you afraid of just a little bit of pain or something?" Janaff added.

Sanaki glared at him. "Well, I'm sorry if I'm not some stupid – crazy – _idiot _that tries to get into trouble on purpose!"

"Hey, I never said that! I'm just saying that it's kind of stupid if you say that you can fit in with us when you don't even want to take any risks. It's kind of sad, really, didn't your parents let you do anything, or were they just too-"

Before Janaff could finish that sentence, Sanaki launched herself from the swing. Tibarn and Ulki backed away in surprise as the beorc leaped at the hawk, raising her hand in a tight fist with an incoherent scream. "_Don't _you say anything about my parents!"

Janaff fell back into the snow with a cry of surprise, clutching his nose. Tibarn knelt next to him, asking if he was alright. Reyson looked back and forth between the hawk and beorc with an unreadable expression. Ulki just stared down at his friend in the snow. Multiple emotions passed through Sanaki's mind. Mostly anger and regret. Anger because Janaff was being an insufferable ass and regret because she just punched him – what if they didn't want to be friends with her now? Stupid stupid stupid, now he's going to hate you...

"Nice going," Tibarn said, "his nose is bleeding."

They'll all hate you, Sanaki thought. And then Janaff burst out laughing and her regret was replaced by confusion. "I just hit you, what – why are you laughing?"

Janaff laughed harder, holding out his hand for all of them to see. There was blood smeared across his palm. "Because you punched me! Aha, man, that was awesome!"

Reyson covered his face with his hand as the other hawks started to laugh. Sanaki watched Tibarn pull Janaff out of the snow; she didn't see what was so funny about the situation. Then it hit her. "You were trying to provoke me on purpose!"

Janaff had calmed down somewhat as he wiped his nose clean with his sleeve. There wasn't as much blood as Sanaki thought there was. "Yeah, pretty much."

"Why?"

He shrugged. "You're way too lady-like, no offence, I'm sure lots of guys go for that. But sometimes, a punch to the face in place of flowery words is what it takes to shut a guy up."

"Especially someone like Janaff," Tibarn added.

"Yeah – wait, what's that supposed to mean?"

"Are they always like this?" Sanaki looked up at Reyson as an argument started between them.

The heron nodded. "Pretty much, but not to repeat what Janaff said, if you want people to accept you easier, you're going to have to lose the whole 'holier than thou' attitude. I understand you've been trying, but I think you should try to tone it down a bit."

"So you think I'm stuck up too?"

"You were raised in an environment that would make pretty much anyone stuck up in their eyes. Just look around, figure out that not everybody has a personal servant, and you're on your way."

"Isn't your father the governor or something? Doesn't he have a servant?"

"Uncle, and last time I checked, he wasn't going to high school. And that's not the point, the point is-" he never finished the sentence before Janaff suddenly raised his voice. He leaned away, leaving Sanaki to wonder what the point was.

"Anyways!" Janaff approached Sanaki like an officer to a new recruit that had no clue what was happening. He grinned. "Okay, so maybe jumping off swings wasn't the best idea. But at least now I know that you can throw a punch… somewhat."

"I can slap you if you want,"

"No need," he grinned. "I think that's good enough."


End file.
